A Therapeutic Story for Parents of Teenagers

For every mother, her child is her little one — the one she looks after and loves unconditionally.

When the little one grows wings and becomes a teenager, a mother's care changes shape. All she wants is for him to learn to fly and manage on his own.

But what does he want? To be on his phone, socialising with virtual friends. To collect likes and become an influencer. To make money from popularity and followers.

„- Mum, this is the trend, what would you know? You're stressing yourself out for nothing, and you're stressing me out too.”

And the mother doesn't understand, and doesn't know where she went wrong — and most of all, she no longer knows how to talk to her little one.

I'm the mother of a teenager too, and our conversations come in all sorts of tones. Today I felt like telling him a story.

The Goat and Her Three Kids – adapted

Once upon a time there was a goat with three kids. The goat went out to gather resources and left them home alone. She gave them the access code to the house: a song, sung in her voice.

The story says that while the mother was away, the wolf came to the door. Cunning, clever and experienced, the wolf copied the mother's voice perfectly and cracked the code. In other words, he got the kids to open the door for him.

The eldest kid rushed to the door first and opened it. The child who thought he knew best and couldn't possibly be fooled was the first one the wolf ate.

The second kid gave himself away through the good manners he felt he had to show — even to a wolf.

When the Wolf sneezed, the middle kid blessed him….with his own life.

The only survivor was the youngest kid, the one whose fear kept him out of harm's way.

When the mother came home and learned she had lost two of her children, the pain didn't crush her — it hardened her, and gave her the strength to take revenge and kill the killer in turn….making a killer of herself.

I asked my son what we could change in this story so the ending wouldn't be so tragic.

His answer amazed me, because it was something I'd never thought of.

– The mother should get herself a key to the house and take it with her. That way the wolf can't copy or steal the key, and he can't trick the children.

The story isn't about how to break into a house. It's about how to teach your children to stay safe.

What did I learn from my son?

Three children raised exactly the same way make different decisions when it comes to danger vs. safety

A mother's voice is the key that can open or close a child's mind

A mother's voice can't be copied once it becomes the child's own inner voice — so that even when she isn't there, he makes the right choices for his safety and his good.

Conscious connection with your child on the mental, emotional and energetic level is the only real protection a teenager has against any temptation

Any other form of monitoring and tracking is experienced as control, and a teenager will push back against it hard

Revenge may be an act of justice, but it is not an act of morality or of love

Dear mothers of teenagers,

I invite you to adapt The Goat and Her Three Kids to your own relationship with your teenager, and to bring them into this exercise of imagination.

Ask them how the two of you could rewrite the story together, so that you can both enjoy the ending.

And if you feel like sharing, I'd love to hear in the comments what answers your children gave you.

And if you were in need of a sign from above, here is what I was given to pass on :

„A mother's love is patient, it is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. „

-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

May it bring you awareness and love,

With warmth,