My daughter and I had been circling the same argument for two years, and I thought the problem was that she would not listen to reason. One night I tried an experiment: I said nothing for the first ten minutes. No defense, no correction, no advice. Just questions and nods. By minute twelve she was telling me things I had never heard, and by the end she asked what I thought. Our talks look different now. It turns out I was not in a stubbornness standoff with a teenager. I was in line behind her, waiting for my turn to feel heard too.
Every story matters.
If this story speaks to you, explore more experiences from this topic or share your own with the Everyday Marcus community.