Megan Saxelby calls it those early years the 'friendship meat grinder'.
'Do I belong?' 'Can I make friends?'
Those early tween and teen years can feel very bumpy as our kids navigate the choppy waters of friendship.
It's easy for us parents to dismiss it as drama or get sucked into what seems like a massive issue for our kids.
In my latest episode, @wildfeelings.co gives us a brilliant explanation of what's really going on for our kids at that age, why they can't just 'be kind', and what do when your kid comes home distressed about the latest fall-out or seems to be struggling to make friends.
I've created a lot of episodes that cover this topic, including interviews with my daughters about the stresses at this age.
What's prompted me to talk about this again (can we ever talk about it enough) is that one of my previous interviewees, Dr David Yeager, has published research that proves a key thing we can do, that doesn't take months or years, will make all the difference to our kid's ability to cope with this stage.
You can also find me at www.teenagersuntangled.com or teenagersuntangled.substack.com