Being a parent offers many opportunities for joy, growth and development. But also of course many challenges. Andrew Solomon puts it well: “parenthood abruptly catapults us into a permanent relationship with a stranger”. This is how it feels when new parents stare in curiosity and wonder at the face of their newborn. Perhaps this is even more true (but less talked about) when parents face their newly grown adolescent. Sometimes the teenager seems like the same child parents knew all along. Yet in other moments he may seem like a ‘stranger at my table’ (to borrow the title of a 1997 book edited by Helen Braid).
