I was pregnant with my third child and waiting to see the doctor.
In the waiting room, an older woman asked me if I knew the baby’s gender. As I told her it was a girl – my third daughter – she and two ladies nearby exchanged glances and moaned. They all had adolescent daughters, and with despair in their voices they told me:
“Just wait until they’re teenagers. You’re really in for it!”
I’d heard this cliché before, and I chalked these mothers up as Debbie Downers and forgot about their gloomy forecast until I started to hear this script again…and again…and again. You see, when you have four daughters like I do now, that is the #1 narrative that older moms share.
For years my goal was to prove them wrong. I promised myself, My daughters won’t be like that. We’ll always be close, and I will not look like these stressed out, strung out, exhausted moms in the throes of raising teenagers.
This goal seemed doable until my daughter started middle school and we started to fight – and I became the stressed out, exhausted mom of a teen girl. From the back of my mind, I pulled out the narrative that I’d heard too many times to count.
Those moms were right! Everyone has warned me about teenagers, and now their predictions are coming true! The answer, I assured myself, was to navigate this new teen territory by digging in my heels and firmly taking control. Otherwise, this daughter and her three sisters would walk all over me.
After all, it was my daughter’s attitude, moodiness, and sass that had disrupted our once loving dynamic. If anyone needed to change, it was her, not me.
The tension between us continued to grow until I had a breakdown one morning after yelling at her before school. In the peace of a quiet home, I regretted that fight and every silly fight before it.
I hated how coldly I’d acted toward my child, and as that truth sank in – as I quit making excuses and justifying harsh arguments – I fell to my knees and begged God to help me restore our rocky relationship.
That day was my wake-up call. It marks the moment that I took a hard look at myself and admitted how my pride and refusal to apologize for my wrongs played a big role in the problem. I was not acting like the adult in this relationship, and it took a lot of soul-searching to admit this.
That rock-bottom moment that I planned to admit to no one later became the inspiration behind my new book for moms of teen girls that releases August 18. This book is what I wish someone had handed me as 5 years ago I struggled to find my footing in parenting a teenager and loving a teenager, aiming to be the strong mom my daughters need while also building a bridge between their hearts and mine.
In researching this book, I Googled “teenage daughters” and was saddened by the overwhelmingly negative results. They all aligned with the script that moms with baby girls are handed.
- How to survive teenage daughters
- Dealing with difficult teenage daughter
- Why mothers and teenage daughters fight
- Mother daughter relationship breakdown
I know teenagers can be challenging, perplexing, and frustrating – yet we do our teenagers a real disservice when we settle for the belief that our best hope is to just “survive” them.
Personally, I want more, and I’ve found that aiming for more with my 3 teenage daughters and 1 pre-teen daughter brings more joy and connection. I’ve discovered that parenting by negative scripts deepens the divide and leads our teenagers to go elsewhere for love, support, and guidance.
So how do we set rules and boundaries – and do our jobs as parents – and still foster a warm home environment? How do we stay calm as our daughters (or sons) push our buttons, test our patience, or make crazy requests in their quest for independence? How do we fight for our daughters rather than with our daughters, showing them we’re on their team as they navigate an increasingly complex world?
Here are 5 pointers.
1. Remember anger can be a grenade.
In The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers, Dr. Gary Chapman says, “In more than thirty years of marriage and family counseling, I have often wept as teenagers have recounted the painful words and destructive behavior of parents whose anger was out of control. What is even more tragic is the many young adults who were abused as teenagers and now find themselves treating their own children in the same manner their parents treated them.”
We all say hurtful things, yet it’s up to parents to model maturity when emotions run high. We all have habits and reactions that aren’t healthy, and what often needs to change first is our response to hard situations. By admitting and breaking bad cycles, we allow healthier habits to form, prevent generational dysfunction, and set the example our teenagers need.
2. See conflict as an opportunity to teach conflict resolution skills.
According to John Gottman, America’s top couples therapist, the #1 predictor of success in marriage is how well two people can resolve conflict.
“In every good relationship,” he says, couples have “repairing skills, and they repair early.”
Any relationship that lasts long enough will have conflict. So when you and your daughter argue, consider it a learning ground. You can teach her, within the safety of your love, how to respectfully work through differences.
By calmly expressing herself, your daughter gains assertiveness skills. By listening to your side, she gains empathy. By speaking the truth in love, she discovers the power of the right words. Together these skills grow your relationship and teach your daughter how to reconcile problems. They turn arguments into life lessons that set her up to win in her friendships, her career, and even her marriage.
