Parenting teenagers is often described as a mix of love, confusion, and constant vigilance. There are moments when you feel a surge of worry so intense that it overrides all caution — and you act impulsively. That’s exactly what happened when I burst into my teen daughter’s room in a panic, convinced something was wrong.
It was late on a weekday evening, and my daughter had been unusually quiet. No music, no phone notifications, no movement from behind her closed door. My mind raced: Was she upset? Hurt? In trouble?
Without thinking, I flung the door open, my heart pounding, expecting the worst.
What I found was… completely ordinary. My daughter was curled up on her bed, scrolling through her phone, headphones in, completely unaware of my mental spiral.
Parents often overestimate danger when they feel responsible for their child’s safety. In that split second, my imagination had conjured the worst-case scenarios: illness, injury, emotional crisis. Panic hijacked reason.
Psychologists explain this as a natural part of parental instinct: our brains are wired to protect children from potential threats, even if the perceived danger is minimal.READ MORE BELOW