Ages 11-13: Parent Power As you head into the difficult 'tween years, remember this: Parents have power. Despite media hype and peer pressure, kids will listen to you if you have a clear message and deliver it consistently. A young woman once told me that when she was a kid, her parents had a rule about holiday gifts: She and her siblings couldn't ask for something if they had seen it advertised on television. A bit extreme, I thought. But not only did the young woman and her older brother accept the rule, they also passed it on to their younger brother ... (more)