Your teenager is ready to chat. You are definitely not.
Conversations and circadian rhythms.
As a mother of two teenage daughters , I’ve gathered some data over the past six years. Here are my findings!
Morning
I’m buzzing with energy.
My teenager is not.
Conversations? Limited to none.
After school
I’m semi-functional.
My teenager is gently waking up to the world again.
Conversations? Rare to possible if the stars align.
Nighttime
I’m exhausted.
My teenager is buzzing. Like literally!
Me: “Goodnight sweetie.”
My daughter: “Mummy, you won’t believe what happened at school today….”
Matt Walker writes about this beautifully in his book «Why We Sleep». While parents are winding down, teenagers hit their highest level of alertness. Their biology is literally wired differently.
So what to do?
I started doing this.
I took a short rest before bedtime. Instead of cleaning the house, tweaking tomorrow’s work presentation, or squeezing in a training session. Or a million other things that suddenly seem so important to do before bedtime. That only exhaust me more.
I rest a wee bit.
You can too.
A cup of tea.
Five minutes lying on the floor.
A breathing exercise.
Read a few pages from a book.
Or just be.
A wee while.
So when our teenagers are ready to talk, we are ready to listen.
Because if there is one thing we really want these days, it’s talking teenagers. Teenagers who talk to us.
They need this.
They need us. More than ever.
It doesn´t always feel like this. But they do.
