Watching TV sitcoms and movies about life with teens it is if often depicted as hard and unpleasant, with these moody beings who talk back and grunt by way of communication.
Now and again there will be a show that has parents and teens getting along, talking with respect and open communication; it's not often though. Can you think of any off the top of your head?
When I watch those moody teens with parents who barely acknowledge or talk to them, or at best insult or react badly to situations, I cringe and wonder why those parents can't interact better with their teens (even though it's just a TV program or movie).
It's the same when I speak with parents who tell me to watch out because when my children are teenagers they're going to be hell to live with. I've raised teens before and I've never found them to be hell to live with, but then again, I've not raised them to be hell to live with.
As a teen my parents barely spoke to me, they barely asked me what was going on in my world. This resulted in a rift where my parents and I didn't know each other very well and kept lots of secrets from each other.
As a mother, with that type of upbringing,
