I am sorry for my daughter that she has to live in this world of stress and anger and strife.  All these are now nouns that compound the meaning of our teenagers’ society.  That is close to why they get mental illness, get depressed, and get anxious.

Listening to her talk about what happens at school seems so not so new to me.  She was unkind and complained due to her state of mind.  It is something that happened when I was younger.  I shared this with her.

I advise if you share, be careful not to begin with the words when I was younger because our teenagers have been conditioned to want to experience life for themselves and push away any events (experiences) from the histories of the lives of their parents.  From there, they will give the long sigh that says ‘not again’.  They do not realize that they can learn from the mistakes their parents made.  Instead, from the lack of communication the vicious circle of stress and anger and strife begins.

In this frame of mind, I approached my daughter with love and understanding, after a stern, “Don’t look at me with those eyes!”  Fortunately, she listened and softened her demeanor, corrected her gaze, and returned to her natural persona of the receptive 10-year-old child.

With this story, my daughter opened up her mind and learned how to let out all the symptoms of the stress, anger, and strife in her environment (hopefully).  So I say, care for your teenager and share your stories and say, “Let’s talk about it!”