03/11/2025
Ever look at your teenager and wonder where your sweet, funny child disappeared to?
One day they’re chatty and kind; the next they’re moody, distant, or downright impossible.
Here’s the truth: adolescence is a full-scale renovation project.
Their brain, body, and emotions are all under reconstruction and you, the parent, are left holding up the scaffolding while the dust and noise swirl around you. It’s not easy. In fact, it can be one of the hardest phases of parenting.
But here’s a small, powerful shift that can change how you feel in the middle of it all.
Take a moment to remember a time when things felt good between you and your child.
A peaceful dinner. Laughter on a long car ride. A Sunday afternoon when everything felt easy.
Picture it clearly.
Then press your thumb and forefinger together, take a slow breath into your chest, and imagine you’re breathing through your heart.
Feel that warmth. That love. That ease.
Stay there for a few breaths.
Because energy goes where attention flows, and when you focus on gratitude, that’s what expands.
When we fixate on how difficult or infuriating they are, we get more of that too.
This isn’t about pretending everything’s fine. It’s about remembering who your teenager really is beneath the hormones and the chaos - the same soul, just in a bigger, louder body.
Lead with gratitude, and you’ll reconnect faster than any lecture ever could.
Because when you tune back into love and appreciation, your nervous system calms, your tone softens, and your energy shifts. That’s the place from which true leadership begins.
So today, give yourself a break. Remember who they are. And who you are, too.
The parent they still need - steady, calm, and leading with love.
If you’d like more ways to manage your own energy while theirs is being upgraded, sign up for Inger’s Insights - my weekly letter for conscious parents raising the future with love and leadership.
