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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Anyone else's dd isolating themselves from the rest of the family?

8 replies

dontagreewithit · 20/08/2012 13:58

I know this is probably not unusual, but I am finding it quite difficult to deal with, so am hoping to hear how other people cope.

Dd2 is 13. She is fairly mature for her age (both bodily and mentally). She has lots of friends, all different groups - friends from her school of her own age, friends from her choir of all different ages (mostly older, but some the same and younger). She also makes loads of friends when she goes to things like PGL. So she's very sociable, and spends time with her friends as much as she can during holidays / weekends.

She is very involved with her choir, so during term time has lots of extra-curricular activities going on, understands the meaning of commitment and very rarely misses any of the engagements / rehearsals etc. It's generally me who does the ferrying back and forth to choir things, and I also run the choir website and sing in the parents' choir, so we do have that as something in common, and we obviously spend time together because of it.

She does OK at school - if she likes a subject she does well in it, the teachers love her. If she isn't interested has a tendency to be a little cocky / chatty, and can get herself in trouble by not realising when she should just shut up.

Her friends' parents think she's great, and she does know how to be polite, can chat with adults with no problem and I always get great reports back from them when she's been at their houses, or been away with them (she's just got back from a holiday with one friend & her family, all went really well).

So, I hear you ask, what on earth is the problem? Well, she just doesn't want to communicate with me or dh, barely with dd1 (15). If we ask her about things she's been doing (holiday, PGL), she barely grunts in response. The more questions you ask (trying to show an interest), the more annoyed she gets. She prefers to spend time on her own watching TV or on her computer (when she's at home, and friends not around), doesn't really want to engage in doing "family" things unless forced. When I ask her why she says it's because we are all "too annoying". She isn't a very good eater - v fussy, so often won't eat what we are eating, which means she makes her own food (family rule) which then can mean (depending on how long it takes to prepare) she isn't eating with us.

I have read the book "Get out of my life but first take me and Alex to town" and it does talk about this kind of non-communicative behaviour in boys, but not so much in girls.

Dd1 has her own foibles, but generally we can't stop her communicating (everything in minute detail) and she willingly spends time with me & dh, so it feels like dd2 is left out of things, and becoming less a part of the family and more isolated from the rest of us. I really hate it Sad but don't know if it's actually normal, and just something we have to learn to live with.

Sorry this is so long. Can anyone else identify with this? Is there anything we can do to "bring her back" or am I being incredibly naive?

OP posts:
oopslateagain · 20/08/2012 16:24

Hi, my DD is 14 and can be a bit like this sometimes, in fact she spends a lot of her time up in her room with the door shut rather than in the living room with us. I did ask her why, and basically it was because she had so much activity and so much interaction with people during the day that she wants to 'switch off' for a while and just spend time alone when she's at home. Even speaking to us is too much interaction, if we try to engage her in conversation she feels like yelling at us to shut up and go away, but instead of that (because she knows it would be rude) she just grunts or gives one-word answers.

During the holidays when there are less activities, she's much better - spends time with us and is happy to go out for days etc, and is back to her old chatty self.

dontagreewithit · 20/08/2012 17:07

Yes, I think dd's monosyllabic grunts are a safety device against shouting "shut the f up" at us, but it just feels like I'm so cut off from her and she's slipping through my fingers...(cue Abba song).

I am just hoping she'll "come back" one day, but fear that if I don't keep trying she'll just be too far remote to do so Sad

OP posts:
dontagreewithit · 20/08/2012 19:07

Bump for the evening crowd

OP posts:
fionaand · 20/08/2012 19:12

i have a 14 year old daughter who does this. she would spend all day in her room on her i-pod if i let her. if i ask if she's ok all i get normally is a shrug of the shoulders. but i do know that if i take her out just me and her she tends to chat a little bit, i think its just normal teenage behaviour i remember shutting myself in my room at that age listening to music all the time and hardly said a word to my parents.

dontagreewithit · 20/08/2012 21:10

Does it not bother people though, this "barrier" that didn't used to be there?

OP posts:
schoolchauffeur · 20/08/2012 21:35

I feel your pain OP. Have been through this with my DD ( now 17). Was at its worst a couple of years ago, but now most of the time she is fine. She is a real introvert and I think she finds the business of busy days out draining so she does need time "out" to recharge and be herself. I really do think it is all part of becoming an adult- they need to separate from you to form their own identity, but they do come back! My DD now spends most evenings with us downstairs and has most recently been getting us into "film nights" where we choose a film to watch together, have snacks and drinks etc.
Hard as it is I think you have to let her be for a bit, maybe initiate one night a week where you have a film, special meal she will like etc and make as teenage friendly as possible- even if its a film you can't stand!
My DD and DS both hate questioning - in their own time they have started to tell us stuff of their own volition.
Good luck and know that you are not alone!

dontagreewithit · 21/08/2012 12:42

Thanks for your reassurance. It's just such a shock I guess, she was such a loving and affectionate little girl.

She usually doesn't respond to overtures for things like film nights or anything 'together', but I guess that shouldn't stop me from continuing to try. It just feels like by continuing to "go on" at her (her words) I am pushing her further away. But by doing what she wants and leaving her to it, she is moving herself further away.

I guess I just have to let her be and hope that she will come back in time, and let her know that she is always welcome.

Having a Sad day in general today, which doesn't help.

OP posts:
ColourMeWithChaos · 21/08/2012 12:51

I was your daughter 24 years ago - I used to go straight up to my room and sit listening to music and reading those god awful teen magazines.

I found days at school very full on and just wanted a bit of space to think and calm down.

I remember it getting better at 16/17 when everybody grows up a little bit.

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