feels as my kid turns 17

parenting a teen is lonely business

My kid is turning 17 later this week — how did that happen?!? That little teeny hand you see up there above is suddenly not so teeny… is suddenly gripping the steering wheel of my old Honda and driving themself to school… is suddenly typing papers, furiously tapping an iPhone screen, and applying a generous amount of eyeliner to their face.

Quick note: Out of respect for my child’s privacy, I don’t post their identifiable face or name on my public accounts or in my book, so these prism posts will follow suit. I should also remind you, in case you haven’t read my book, that I’m using the gender neutral pronouns “they/them/their” here because my kid is genderfluid. 🩷🤍💜🖤💙

A little over a week ago, I was listening to episode 270 of We Can Do Hard Things, when, just for a few minutes at the beginning, the hosts were discussing how lonely it can be to parent teens. The conversation went like this:

Glennon Doyle:

I was thinking this morning about raising teenagers and about how interesting …