Mother Knows Best

The sweet, rewarding mother-daughter bond.

- Lesley D.Biswas

The one thing most mothers crave for is to have a frank talk with their teenage daughters about life. A mother’s rich experience and the life lessons she’s learned through her growing-up years make her the best person to guide her adolescent daughter and to ensure she does not repeat those mistakes and suffer that pain, again. Teen daughters too are eager to listen to what their mother did during her adolescent years. How and they handle crushes, relationships, break-ups, and sexual desires? There might be a glaring gap in your era and hers, but regardless of the changing times, these biological urges remain the same.

So, how much do you disclose about your past to your teenage girl? How honest can you be, and do you need to tell her every tiny detail, because she wants to know, or because it’s the truth? Your response to your daughter will not only help her in her future, how tactful and honest you are with your answers will determine whether she trusts you and decides to come to you with her teenage troubles, or not. These are some of the predicaments you’ll face as a mother. So, before you decide to share your experience with your teenage daughter, here are some pointers that will help you make this a value exchange that will not blow up in your face afterward.

Best friends

In their book titled Too Close For Comfort? Questioning the Intimacy of Today’s New Mother-Daughter Relationship, authors Linda Perlman Gordon and Susan Morris Shaffer writes that the mother and daughter relationship is more comprehensive than best friendship. As a mother, you might consider that befriending your daughter would open the doors to communication between the two of you. But, although there should be a close connection between mother and daughter, one that fosters sharing, being best friends isn’t advisable.