Affirm your daughter's honest view of problems

"More than 50% of families are affected by one of these stress factors: a parent or extended family member who is mentally ill; someone who has been emotionally or physically abused; someone wh...o is chronically ill; or a sibling or child who has fallen off the developmental curve.

So what that means is that just about every girl has experience with one of these family stresses, but it’s often the sort of thing that people want to keep secret.

In many families, what mothers do is bring everybody together and make everything all right. We do it because it’s a seemingly healthy behavior to protect the family, but it’s very unhealthy for individuals, especially kids, who need validation about their own truthful perceptions.

Here’s an example. I had an aunt who was emotionally abusive, and when she came to visit, all of us kids would run and hide. I asked my father why he allowed her to visit, and he said, “We’re all she’s got.” I wish my father had said this: “Your aunt is angry and mean—exactly what you see—and because she is emotionally wounded, I have made a choice to keep her as part of the family. I know that it’s hard for you, but I’m going to ask you to do it as a way to build character.”

An adolescent girl’s cognitive abilities to curb her honesty in a socially appropriate way usually aren’t quite developed yet, so she tends to blurt out the truth.

It is a parental gift to affirm her perceptions, perhaps in private, and assure her that it’s OK to have that perception. Then you can help her work with the problem, knowing that you both know it’s reality, and that she’s not crazy for seeing something others won’t talk about."

~ Dr. Christiane Northrup

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