I'm a teenager, get me out of here!

In the past, when my children were still cute little buggers, I sometimes tried to imagine what it would be like later on. I saw it with my friends, what happens to children when they grow up.

At some point, they become smart-alecky and cheeky and before you know it, they are normal teenagers, with all that that entails. I admired my friends for the way they put up with the whims of their half-strong companions with a shrug of the shoulders and unwavering love.

Now I live with two teenagers, in a pile so to speak, thanks to Corona. And they also make a lot of piles, sometimes it's clothes, sometimes dirty crockery or the packaging of things they order online.

Nevertheless, living together actually works surprisingly well, even if it sometimes looks strange; when all three of us wander around the flat with laptops and earplugs, each of us taking part in a meeting or engrossed in a conversation, but not with each other.

It is a fragile balance that can tip at any time.

It has worked so well so far because the weather has been fine and the troops have been in good morale. But it's a fragile balance that can tip at any time. And then it comes to the infamous fights that teenagers and parents obviously have to have.

I'll spare you the content of the arguments I have with my adolescent offspring. I can simply tell you that the dynamics of these arguments are similar to those found in broken relationships. This is when the content of the argument becomes irrelevant at some point, because every argument leads to the big fight, which is always lurking subliminally and can flare up at any time.

This is of course very tiring because, as in a relationship dispute, you are ultimately confronted with yourself again and again. And you keep asking yourself: How much longer can I put up with this?

Then there is only one thing to do. You have to switch on the adult autopilot. Channel your anger into clear instructions. Seek dialogue, find your own patience. If you don't do this, you run the risk of suddenly living with three teenagers - because you yourself are in danger of regressing into an adolescent.

Unlike a broken partner relationship, you won't give up on your own offspring. Because a relationship with a teenager may be difficult, but they won't always be teenagers.

It is a phase that will eventually be over, just as the coronavirus period will hopefully be a chapter that we will look back on in the future and ask ourselves what actually happened. We are strong enough. We will get through this too.

Michèle Binswanger's diary at a glance:

1. Zeiten-Paradox im Lockdown
2. Ausgehungert nach Freunden
3. Lockdown-Bilanz und eine Prise Optimismus
4. Frühling und die Kunst, traurig zu sein
5. Reifeprüfung im Corona-Dilemma
6. Was ich in Sachen Corona von meiner Mutter gelernt habe

Michèle Binswangers reports on her experiences in the home office in her new lockdown mum blog. From now on, the mum of two will be blogging twice a week - on Sundays and Wednesdays. Her blog appears on www.tagesanzeiger.ch and www.fritzundfraenzi.ch.