Yes, it really is true. Your teenager needs you. Not that they’d ever admit it, or act like it. They are teenagers after all.
What they need most of all is for you to be constant, predictable and steady. They need to know where they stand with you, how you are going to react and even what you’re (more or less) going to say before you say it.
Why? Because this makes them feel safe. It gives them security knowing their world, at its core, is what they expect. All the changes in the outside world that they deal with on a daily basis are balanced by your predictability, your evenness, your rock solid reactions.
The only way you can top this is by becoming a better version of the you they already know. A version of you they remember from their earliest moments. The version that looked at them with unconditional love, and smiled with joy at their perfection. Their completeness. Your love of them simply for existing.
The teenager in front of you now is no longer small enough to be scooped up in your arms, yet there are times when they’d like nothing more than to be able to relax so deeply when they sit next to you that they fall into the deepest of sleeps while sprawled over your tummy. Safe in the knowledge they are loved un-con-dition-ally. Loved for who they are. No strings attached.
So keep being you. Their parent. The one who loves them unconditionally. Who is there for them. Solid. Dependable. Predictable. The rock which they use to push against when they need energy to propel themselves into the world.
Being that parent can be the hardest job in the world somedays. Look for Beautiful Conversations on FaceBook for daily inspiration, love and support in your newsfeed.