After you’ve been parenting for more than a few years, there’s something you learn.

The way you communicate with your child changes as the child gets older.

When you say something to a toddler, you don’t usually need to provide all the logic and reasoning with it. At that stage they are absorbing information like a sponge, and you’re the primary source of all their new knowledge.

But when they get to the teenage years, it’s a different story. At that point, they might question your advice. So a lot of times, as a parent of a teenager, you might find yourself walking that thin line – you don’t want to just tell them what to do with the “because I said so” logic, because that could just push them farther in the wrong direction. But you also don’t want to see them make a big mistake that could have serious consequences.

That’s kind of the spot Heidi was in, with her daughter Emali.

Emali was with a boy, and Heidi was trying to get her to understand that he was not the one for her. He was controlling and abusive. Emali did realize that eventually, but when she tried to leave, she sadly didn’t make it.

So Heidi is telling the story of her daughter Emali – who she sometimes refers to by her middle name, Renee – so that others might recognize that situation earlier, and get away.

If you have a question or comment for Heidi, she’s in the Facebook group. Come over and join over 7500 other listeners in our amazing discussions – WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.

If you’re in an abusive situation, you can call or text for help:

National Domestic Violence Hotline – thehotline.org – 1-800-799-7233 or text to 88788

Heidi created this GoFundMe to help with expenses:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-hands-for-elianna-rebuilding-life-after-tragedy

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/184

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

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