Do you have a teen or pre-teen daughter at home? Ever gotten frustrated at her “drama queen” episodes? Maybe she got furious about that bad grade when the teacher was so unfair! Maybe she sobbed about the mean girls at school. Maybe she starts furiously texting you every upset emoji in the list about how your rules are ruining her life!
I’ve had so many moms and dads ask me what to do in those situations since, they say, they don’t want to be manipulated, enabling, or escalate an already bad trend. One woman described how her teenage daughter begged to play volleyball – but then (when she didn’t want to go to practices) cried about the fact that none of the girls liked her. Not long afterward she came home from a sleepover in tears because her friends played Manhunt, forgot she was still hiding outside and went in to make cookies without her. She couldn’t bear the thought of facing them at school on Monday. This mom told her daughter that “drama queen stuff” wouldn’t work and she still must go to volleyball and school. Enough was enough!
But—you guessed it—that created yet more drama.
Before you give up and assume the next few years are simply doomed to drama, remember three important things. They will change how you deal with your daughter—and you’ll see the drama a lot less often!
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