1 . Out of all the relationships we have in our lifetime, the one with our parents is the most important. When you think about it, no other relationship is like the one we have with our mom and dad: when we’re young, our parents care for us; when our parents are old, we care for them. But in the middle of this long bond, there usually comes a time when it seems like our parents are our biggest enemies: when we’re teenagers.

As kids, we love nothing more than spending as much time as we can with our parents.     1    

As US psychologist Lisa Damour wrote recently, “Many parents of teenagers long for the days when their preteen laughed at their jokes and happily came along on errands.” So, why is it that as we begin to enter adulthood, we feel so different about the two people who brought us into the world? “Teenagers are going through a very stressful time in their lives: they want to please us, but they also want to break away,” US psychologist Michele Borba said. Borba’s second point is perhaps the biggest reason why our attitude toward our parents changes as we grow older.     2    

We’re no longer kids, and as young adults, we try to be as independent as possible. We soon start to put our friends before our parents. Before we know it, things at home are completely different. But rather than pushing our parents away, we should pay attention to their advice instead of ignoring it.

“    3    They’re my own support system. Everybody thinks friends are more important, but they’re not,” a teenage girl told an Australian website.

Although sometimes it may seem impossible to follow everything our parents tell us, there’s one thing we should remember - respect is something that works two ways:     4    

It means that instead of not following our parents’ wishes, we should show how mature we are by trusting their wisdom. Indeed, as the girl pointed out, “    5    Family is always there.”