Parents Like to Say “It’s Just a Phase.” So What?
Kids and teens need to embrace their phases, not ignore them.
We all know the stereotypical back-and-forth between a parent and child. The parent gestures disapprovingly at the child and makes an offhand comment about whatever phase the child is going through. Cue the kid responding with “Mooooom! It’s not a phase!”
As teenagers, many of us — if not most of us — went through some sort of phase in school. Whether it was being an emo kid, idolizing some boy band or another, exploring things like wicca or other alternative religions, or any number of other things, it’s pretty much a rite of passage for teens these days.
I know I have fond memories of the weird phases I went through in high school and college. There was a point where I grew my hair long and wore a trench coat every day for over a year, even during 100-degree summer days. I was really into Aleister Crowley at one point. There was a period of several years where I was really into Vampire: the Masquerade LARP.
A lot of that stuff was met with vague disapproval from my father, who would’ve preferred that I remain a buttoned-up adult once I got to college. To his credit, he recognized that my childhood was far from normal and tolerated it to some degree. I got diagnosed with some…
