The perfect way to talk with my teenage daughter

I had an aunt tell me once, at her own daughter's high school graduation party, that the Lord prepares mothers to send their children off to college by making the little darlings so wretched their senior year of high school that the moms are happy to send them on their way. I scoffed at the time because my then sweet 13 year old was quiet, obedient, and hung on every word I said. Little did I know that five years later my precious little poster child for the perfect offspring would turn into this surly, impatient, grouser who acts as if she can barely tolerate me, let alone be in the same room.

I have learned that speaking with her as an adult is an act of futility since at 18 she's still a kid in many ways, and therefore, our conversations are a series of her dramatic overreactions to anything coming out of my mouth. The phone also produces it's share of theatrical responses that send this mama over the edge.

We have found, I am excited to report, a way in which we can finally exchange ideas calmly, rationally, and without my blood pressure rising to dangerous levels...

We instant message while in the same house!

She's on the upstairs computer, I'm downstairs on my laptop, and we have a delightful time. I check the status of scholarship searches, college applications, and homework assignments, all with nary a tiff. I don't have to see her eye rolls, I can't hear her deep, heavy, how-can-you-be-so-stupid-mom sighs, and the sarcasm loses it's bite somewhere between her keyboard and mine.

We have found a way to talk again! And with 101 days until graduation (not that I'm counting or anything), we might just make it.