A year’s worth of weekly email templates to reinforce your love, spark ideas, share wisdom and guide your teens to become their best, most confident versions of themselves.
Have I had all of the important conversations with my kids? Have I shared enough of my life experiences to help them navigate their own challenges? Have I both given them roots to be grounded and wings to fly? And, perhaps most importantly, do they know how much I’ve absolutely loved being their dad?
The truth is, despite a pretty great relationship with all my kids, I wasn’t 100% sure. And tomorrow is never guaranteed.
So, I began writing my three teenagers an email every Sunday. The results were . . . surprising – more laughs, more eyerolls (the good kind), more meaningful conversations (and productive disagreements!).
But, most importantly, more connection. Who doesn’t want more of all that with their kids?
Now over a year later, the emails are part of our weekly rhythm, further strengthening our bond. Plus, by the time the kids graduate high school they’ll have a robust collection of wisdom, stories, guidance, and love notes that will outlive me and hopefully provide some comfort when they leave the nest. I can’t think of a more valuable gift (although they might say cash would have been fine too).
You can do the same for your kids with my email templates.
I write about things helpful to teenagers as they navigate growing up and school and friends and disappointment and achievement and anxiety. I use quotes, stories, video clips and even some poetry. I mix in terrible dad jokes. I challenge them to think a bit. I ask them to see a few different perspectives. I throw in a little financial education, some family history, and “things you should know” life skills. I affirm them as loved members of our family.
Teenagers are exhausting frustrating insufferable surly complicated. Their hormones are out of whack, they’re learning to push boundaries and they communicate in a foreign language (to this, they might say, “that’s cap, bruh”). To put it mildly, they are a work in progress which means connecting with them can be a challenge. However, they’re also pretty cool people with interesting ideas. Thus, it’s important to play the long game to build that connection because as parents will find out, rules without relationship = rebellion.
This weekly email not only improves that relationship, but it’s a critical piece of the changing role we need to undertake as parents of teens: From that of an authoritarian to that of a coach.
Sure, there are still times when “no” means “no.” There are times we need to set strict boundaries. But if we want to build confident, self-sufficient adults, it becomes increasingly necessary to start walking alongside our teens instead of in front of them, to offer perspective instead of orders and to gently encourage their independence to make their own decisions while resisting every urge to say, “You can’t possibly think this Alpaca hairstyle looks cool.”
The email format is great because:
I started sharing my emails with a small group of parents in my community because I kept hearing about a longing to connect more. I’d already done the work of choosing topics and sorting through resources, so I thought this could be valuable to save time for other parents. I was right. Soon, we had a group of parents on the weekly email project sending their own versions and telling their stories, and the feedback was great.
It’s been growing ever since. Now over 1 million parents strong! That’s a lie, but we’re on our way.
Here's the deal: These email templates are your creative playground. Each week, spend about 30 minutes adding your unique touch. Swap in your own wisdom, share personal anecdotes, or include your favorite dad joke. I've already done the hard part by providing a variety of topics and a solid foundation. Now, it's your turn to choose the order, brainstorm your own content ideas, and most importantly, write in a way that resonates with you and your kids.
Of course every teen is different, but to get the most buy-in, I recommend starting no earlier than age 14.
Spending 30 minutes each week can truly change the dynamics of your relationship AND create a lasting family keepsake.
Fill out the form below with your contact information and I will send you 5 free sample emails and a guide for getting started on your emails.
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