Cara’s thought for the day…Hello everyone! I wanted to put out a thought…I know that these teenagers of ours are difficult. They don’t seem to be taking anything seriously (at least not what they should) and they take other things way too seriously (things that they shouldn’t).
It all seems backwards!
With the virus they want to leave the house, but have a breakup with a girl/boyfriend?
They will lock themselves in their room for days!
I guess I am just asking for some understanding…
Our children may have trauma and have their own demons to deal with which makes everything harder, but they are still teenagers.
Teenagers are supposed to press boundaries. They are supposed to go against “the establishment” and try to bend rules to make sense to them. Don’t forget what you were like…the times you snuck our or shouted at your parents.
I am not excusing their behaviour, but trying to have you look at some of their behaviours as quite normal.
Their need to push boundaries as about them growing up, about them finding who they are in this world.
We are in a scary time because of the virus, but their brains are built in a way that makes them to want to discover who they are and to press boundaries. Yes, set the boundaries…Yes, keep them as safe as you can. I am just asking that you look at them and know that the struggle to grow and become adults is real for them, just as it was for us.
They aren’t crazy…they are teenagers…and some of what you are seeing is just normal teenager behaviour.
This is hard for all of us…they may be acting and saying they aren’t afraid, but try if you can to remember everything that you were afraid of when young…were you honest about it? Take a breath…step back…and just remember that they are acting their age…and then do what you need to do (but hopefully a little calmer).