What would you give to turn an eye roll into a hug? Or an angry teen face into a smile? For me this is priceless and the reward for doing the hard work of untangling from my child. I grew up thinking that other people made me feel. And that anger, shame and uncertainty were so uncomfortable, I conditioned myself to avoid, repress and numb them.
So when my teenaged daughter got angry and yelled at me for not waking her up on time, it was almost impossible to not take that at face value. I got defensive and argued back. Then I dropped into "I'm not enough," I blew it. Both understandable reactions, but neither got me what I really wanted, which was harmony and connection with my daughter.
That was this morning and it was shocking how quickly my thoughts spun out and derailed me. "I can't believe she yelled at me! I didn't mean to. How could I have yelled back at her, when she was barely even awake. How could I have done this? I ruined our morning. She's now late and st