Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts - Do It; Not Merely Try

Interpersonal conflicts are almost inevitable in everyone’s life; from minor issues like the unhappiness of a couple over their inability to compromise on a dating place to major conflicts like a family breakup. The causal of most interpersonal conflicts could be due to the lack of effective communication. However I believe that it is important to realise that it is not the conflict itself that is detrimental to a relationship but the management of the conflict and how the conflict is approached and resolved that determines if the relationship in question can be salvaged.

Personally, my family is always my pillar of support in life thus family issues are upsetting to me. Hence I have decided to address a conflict between a mother and a daughter but well, I am certainly not one of the leads. This conflict persisted over some time and was not really a one-off issue.
The teenage daughter was always the main concern to her family members especially her mother due to her truants, lies and secretive behaviour. However it was important to note that the 13 year old daughter was from a nuclear family, with loving and attentive parents and siblings and the mother was a housewife who took time to understand her children and fulfilled their needs to her most possible capability.

The conflict began when the daughter started to be rude to her mother and was unwilling to give more details regarding her whereabouts. She went home late without informing the worrying parents at home but the parents could only wait up as they had no access to her friends’ contact numbers. The mother had even spotted the daughter wearing clothes that had never appeared in the house before and perhaps were skimpy clothes that the conservative mother would not have allowed her to wear at her then tender age of 13. The mother had not confronted the daughter at this point in time, in hope of her turning over a new leaf. This must have been very hurtful for the mother to experience.

On the contrary, things only got worse. The daughter began to skip tuitions and the mother had to bear with repeated humiliating phone calls from the tuition teacher that her daughter was absent, yet again. The mother still did not approach her daughter, fearing that she may worsen the situation and made her daughter felt stifled. Hence all she did was to continue to show her love and attention and instruct her daughter to attend her tuitions religiously, which was obviously not taken to heart.
The daughter seemed to have enjoyed the thrill she was going through and did not take into consideration her mother’s feelings. The daughter may be merely interested in seeking some thrill and going through a stage of being rebellious while the mother might have understood this by not confronting her but simply ensuring that things did not get way out of hand. Indeed, the situation slowly improved and the mother-daughter relationship is now close beyond words.

A mother-and-child relationship (especially that of a teenage child) appears to pose sensitive issues that require tact in handling, so how would you have handled the situation if you were the mother? Just being curious, do you think there is any precaution to take to ensure that the daughter (or any child) does not enter the stage of being rebellious?

I guess at the end of the day, blood is certainly thicker than water and when both parties take on an effective approach to a conflict, more insights will be gained on the relationship rather than an infliction of harm.

Take the effort; do not say try but do it!