3 Things to Remember With Your Drama Queen Daughter

Remember what that incident would have felt like at her age. 

Stop assuming your daughter’s feelings and tears aren’t legitimate.

The next time you hear something that seems so “dramatic” and you’re tempted to roll your own eyes, pause before responding and remember what it was like to be in her shoes. (Note: this will be easier for women than men, since some things bother girls more than boys. So dads…ask your wife how they would have felt as a teenage girl.)

Think about it: When you were her age and upset about something would you have wanted your parents to derisively assume you were being a drama queen, and were “overreacting” to something? Wouldn’t that have made your feelings (and the drama) far worse? Remember what it was like to be a teenage girl and how all the stuff you are waving off now really mattered to you back then.

Maybe you’re made of sterner stuff than I am, but I would have been devastated if I was hiding outside in the dark, waiting for my friends to find me, only to realize that they didn’t even remember I was at the sleepover. Think of the humiliation. Think of the courage it would take to walk into that house and pretend that you weren’t fazed by it. Or the embarrassment you would feel if you broke down crying and said something like “you guys don’t care about me at all!” Think about what it would be like to face that pack of girls at school on Monday. And then think about what it would feel like to have your parents – the people who you most want to depend on to care about you – totally dismiss your feelings as “drama.” Ouch. I would have been devastated.