I have always known that I wanted to work with children.
I loved school, and becoming a teacher felt like a natural path for me.
Five years into my teaching career, I became a mum. Since then, teaching and raising my two boys have grown alongside each other.
I have now been a teacher for twenty years.
When my boys were younger, connection often felt easy.
They wanted me there. They asked me to play, watch, help and listen. A trip to the park, a cuddly toy or a McDonald’s could make their whole day.
But as my boys got older, our relationship began to change.
They wanted more time alone and less time with me. The family days out I carefully planned did not always appeal to them anymore. The simple things that once brought us together stopped working in the same way.
I knew they were growing up and becoming more independent.
But knowing that did not mean I did not miss the closeness we used to have.

As my boys got older, the decisions became harder too.
Are they ready for more freedom?
Am I being too strict or not strict enough?
Should I step in or let them work it out for themselves?
I wanted to keep them safe, help them make good choices and stay close to them. But sometime that worry came out as more reminding, more explaining and more nagging.
Conversations that began with me trying to help could quickly become arguments.
Underneath it all, I was not only worried about whether I was making the right decision in that moment.
I was thinking about the relationship we were building.
Would they still want to spend time with me?
Would they come to me when something was wrong?
And as they grew into adults, would I still be someone they wanted in their lives?

Coaching helped me see that I did not need to find the perfect answer to every parenting decision.
I needed to understand what was driving my reactions.
Was I responding to what was actually happening, or to what I was afraid might happen?
Was I trying to help, or was I trying to make the worry go away?
What kind of relationship was I trying to build, and was the way I was responding helping me build it?
Those questions changed the way I looked at difficult moments with my boys.
I still care. I still worry. And I do not handle every conversation perfectly.
But I am more able to pause, understand what is happening for me and choose how I want to respond.
I began to realise that when I changed what was happening on my side of the relationship, what happened between us could begin to change too.
That realisation led me to train as a coach and eventually to help other mums who want a better relationship with their teenager.

If you are tired of the same arguments, hearing yourself nag and wondering whether you are getting things right, you do not have to work it all out on your own.
Together, we can look at what keeps happening between you and your teenager, what is driving your reactions and what you can begin to change on your side.
So you can trust your decisions more, find new ways to connect and enjoy being their mum while these years are still here.