When your teen says, “What’s the point?”

It’s late.

Your teen is sitting at the table, book open… but not really reading.

You ask,
“Did you start studying?”

And they don’t even look up.

“What’s the point?”

You feel it immediately.

Because it’s not just pushback.
It’s not even attitude.

It’s something flatter than that.
Like they’ve already checked out.

So you try.

You explain why it matters.
How this connects to college.
To their future.
To keeping options open.

You hear yourself talking…
and something in you already knows it’s not landing.

They shrug.
“Yeah, but still.”

And that’s the moment that lingers.

Not because of what they said…
but because of what it means.

Because underneath it, there’s a thought that’s harder to shake:

What if nothing I say actually makes them care?

You don’t say that part out loud.

Instead, you try again the next night.
A different angle.
A better explanation.
Maybe a little firmer this time.

But it starts to feel like you're the only one who can see where this is going.
And that’s a lonely place to be.

Of course that’s unsettling.

Of course it makes you want to step in more.
Say more.
Push a little harder.

Not because you’re doing something wrong.

Because you care about their life.

And when it looks like they don’t…
it’s hard not to feel like something bigger is at risk.

And there’s that other feeling, too.

I don’t know how to get through to them from here.

It’s not about finding better words.
By the time you say anything, you’re already trying to get them to care.

🧡 Jeanine