It's not too late

I remember when my kids were 19, 17, and 14, and things felt… strained. Not broken, just tense, defensive, fragile at times.

There were more arguments than I wanted. More slammed doors. More silence.

More moments when I thought, this isn't who we are.

Not in a hopeless way, just there has to be a better way than this.

I didn't want a house full of walking on eggshells.
I didn't want conversations that turned into lectures or shutdowns.

And honestly? I missed them.

Their humor, their stories, the little everyday moments that make you feel like you really know your kid.

So I made a decision: I was going to change the way I showed up, not wait for them to change first.

I started paying attention to what I said when things got hard.
My tone, my timing, the energy I brought into the room.

Instead of correcting them right away, I learned to pause.
Instead of jumping to give my advice, I started listening first.
Instead of trying to "teach a lesson," I tried to understand what was really happening for them.

And slowly, things softened.

They lingered in the kitchen a little longer.
They told me things again.
Not the big dramatic stuff at first… the small everyday stuff.

And those tiny openings turned into real conversations.
Real trust. Real closeness again.

If you want that—if you want to feel connected again, to trust your teenager and have them trust you, even after the yelling, the silent treatments, or the hard weeks… you can.

It's not too late. Not even close.

All it takes is one decision: I'm going to show up differently from now on.

🧡 Jeanine