Mom

                Your mom is the number one candidate to be your best friend.  She’s with you every day, she knows you just as well as you know yourself, perhaps better.  Yet, mothers are the ones we teenage girls tend to push away more than anyone else.

“Stay out of my life, Mom!”

Look and sound familiar?  First, let me say this: every girl is going to have a spat or two with her mother at one point or another.  Let’s face it, we won’t always see eye to eye.  But your mother loves you more than anyone else on this green earth.

                Mothers have a special connection with their children.  When she sees you making bad choices, or caught between a rock and a hard place, it’s her instinct to help you in a way that’s best for you.  Despite what we teenagers seem to think, Mother really does know best.  When she grounds you, or takes away your phone, or cancels your date with your boyfriend, believe it or not, she’s not out to ruin your life.  She’s doing what she’s supposed to do, which is take care of you, whether you see it that way or not.

“Thanks for always being there, Mom!”

Doesn’t sound familiar?  Here’s some good news: it can!  If you’re one of those girls who doesn’t have a tight relationship with your mom, or who thinks she spends every day of her life trying to sabotage yours, you don’t have to think that way anymore.  I’m going to give you a few ways to get closer to your mom.  You may ask, why am I stressing the importance of making Mom the best friend?  I’ll tell you.

                When we hit the teenage years we girls deal with so many emotions we can’t even name them all.  If we’re not one of those wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve types, we tend to hide our feelings from everyone, even the person who cares most about them: Mom.  I’m speaking from experience.

                I’m one of those girls who bottles everything up inside until it overflows and I explode on whoever is unfortunate enough to be around at the moment.  Not good!  Not good, at all.  Your mom is the one person who can understand what you’re going through.  She was once a teenager too, you know.  And she wants you to open up to her more than anything, to show that you trust her and value her advice and opinion.  And hey, moms can give you some pretty good tips!  So, here are a few ways to build your relationship with Mom:

1.       Ask her if you can go out to dinner sometime, just the two of you.  Ask her some questions like, what were her mom’s rules for her when she was dating and how did she handle peer pressure at school?  Just anything to get the conversation turned towards some things in your life you want to share with her.  I promise you she will listen and care.

2.       If Mom’s out working in the garden, grab some gloves and give her a hand.  It will give you two time to talk and build your relationship, and later, if you ask her to take you to the mall or something, she’ll most likely remember how you helped her out and be more willing to grant your request.

3.       If you’re feeling down, or pressured about something, just come into her room one night and ask if you can talk to her.  She’ll pat the bed beside her and say, “Sure, come sit with me.”Just tell her what’s on your mind and she will be sure to listen and give you some advice.

Opening up to Mom isn’t something that we should be scared of.  If you really want to talk to her, she won’t turn you away.  And if you make her your confidant and friend, you might just find out that Mom is a whole lot cooler than you thought she was!

Love,

Grace