Mouths of Medusa: A Tricky Teen

Dear Medusa

My teenage daughter (15yo) is acting out and rebelling. I know she’s just a teen, and it’s the usual teenage bullshit, but how can I address her behaviour with her? I want to guide her in the right direction, but she resists me at every turn…

Medusa: Adolescence, like a storm, is a turbulent transformation. This tempest in your midst desires to break free from the chains of childhood, and explore uncharted waters. It is a primal call, to challenge and question the confines of the world they live in. Approach their stormy crest with love and patience. 

She will shriek and howl at the wind, just as you did. She will tempt fate, and bring worry, just as you did.

For this is a wild soul full of possibility – a creature freshly blooded, who both doubts and suspects her glorious potential. It is unfair.

So make space for her fears, her dreams, her desires. Allow her words to ride the wind freely and openly, instead of breaking on damp cavern walls, unseen and unheard. She yearns to taste self-determination. Encourage her to explore new landscapes and realms along the shoreline, with you as the lighthouse watching and protecting.  

And when the crest falls and the storm abates – and it will – then celebrate even the tiniest victories. Shower praise upon the remnants of this rebellion, for she has navigated tempests that would have shattered lesser souls. Know it was you as a beacon who carried her through the darkness. In the morning sun, she’ll be forged anew.