I can really relate to this article. I have a 12 year old daughter and it feels like she is just a different person at times. We can often connect at the end of the day and I can feel her soften but lately she is angry, mean and at times aggressive. I find I am always trying to cheer her up but it the controlling aspect in me that she is pushing against. I try to keep encouraging this in her because i see I am doing too much or exerting power over her but I keep pointing out that she can express without shutting me out or becoming overly defensive. It is such a mirror for me as I have this intense anger and often rage at times that I witness inside myself. On the way to school the other day she snapped at her sister and climbed over the seat to attack her. I lost it and could observe my own rage and anger come out at her as I yelled at her to stop. I had to sit with this all day. I could see I was being exactly the same as her just verbally, not physically. I remembered as I was deeply saddened by my behavior something I have seen here and heard Open say recently that "there are not mistakes as long as we learn from them." I am working with these energies within myself and am grateful for the mirrors my children so graciously provide to help me
see. I am still working to "Become the solid, emotionally dependable rock within their lives." This article is full of reminders for me. Thank you!