The Kitchen Table Chronicles: When Your Teenager Still Needs You

You know those moments when your teenager actually wants to talk? When they’re not rolling their eyes or telling you that you ‘don’t understand’?

The Kitchen Table Chronicles: When Your Teenager Still Needs You

shows one of those rare and precious times - Sophie dealing with some friend drama that hit her harder than usual.

I found her in the kitchen this afternoon, that universal teenage posture of defeat - head in hands, world feeling impossibly heavy.

Processing life one sip at a time

Sometimes the best thing I can do is just make hot chocolate and be present. Not try to fix everything, not offer unsolicited advice, just… be here.

By the time we’d talked through it (and she’d had half the whipped cream), I caught this moment

There’s that smile I’ve been waiting for

• my girl starting to smile again. Teenage friendships are complex and messy, but watching Sophie navigate them with such thoughtfulness makes me proud. Even when her heart is hurting, she’s learning to process, to communicate, to be vulnerable when she needs support.

These kitchen conversations are becoming fewer as she gets older, so I treasure every single one. Even the hard ones. Especially the hard ones.