I’ve been working for a long time on empowering myself through my thinking. Right when I’m coming to a greater sense of equanimity than ever before, my 13 year old daughter is coming on strong with (what feels like) an almost constant sense of angst and anxiety. What frustrates me the most about it is that she rejects any offers of tools that I try and give her to deal with it. I’m working at setting up a boundary that I’m not her emotional garbage can (which is what it can feel like). I want her to always be able to come to me to talk but not just to complain or share her exaggerated worries and anxieties.
I find this to be one of the biggest challenges in my life right now. I’m trying to do the work of not feeling like a victim myself in this dynamic and it feels like a lot of energy to have to expend day in and day out. (I have 3 older son’s, and this is a whole new ballgame!).