Posted on November 25th, 2025

EVERY year around this time something interesting happens!

We gather around the table, pass the food, smile for the family photos…

And suddenly our “inner teen” slips into the room too🫣

Oh YOU know the one!

The version of you that remembers being misunderstood, judged, compared, embarrassed, shamed or pressured to hold everything together.

The version that learned to shrink, perform or overachieve so no one would see how anxious you really felt inside🙂‍↕️

And if we’re being honest…

THAT version still lives inside us🙄

ESPECIALLY during the holidays!

🧡 Why Do the Holidays Bring UP & Out Our Inner Teen?

Family gatherings have a way of time-traveling us🤷🏻‍♀️

It doesn’t matter how accomplished, grown or grounded we may be any other day, being back in childhood spaces or around those closest to us, can activate old stories we thought we had outgrown🥸

Things like:

• “Am I being judged right now?”

• “I need to be perfect or I’ll disappoint someone.”

• “I don’t want conflict so I’ll stay quiet.”

• “I should hold the energy together for everyone to be OK.”

Even the happiest families have invisible threads of expectation that tug at the nervous system.

And here’s the wild part…

🧡 As Parents, Your “Inner Teen” and Your Child are Sitting at the Same Table!

Your teen is navigating all the things you once felt! The awkwardness, the uncertainty, comparison, pressure, overstimulation, the need to belong.

ALL.THE.THINGS🙈

YOU might be triggered…

Then THEY might be triggered!

…and suddenly it’s not “just” Thanksgiving dinner anymore it’s two inner teens bumping into each other 🤼‍♀️

However THIS is where the healing through reflection can and needs to begin!

🧡 Your Inner Teen Doesn’t Need Perfection…

They need “Permission!”

Permission to breathe…

Space to soften…

Gentle approval to not carry the whole room…

Freedom to say “I’m doing my best right now” and allowing that to be enough🥹

Because the most powerful thing adults can do is tend to their own inner teen before trying to guide their child’s!

And when YOUR inner teen feels safe?

Your ACTUAL teen feels safe, seen and heard🥰

🧡 A Simple Practice for Thanksgiving Morning

Before the day begins, take 30 QUIET & QUICK seconds and ask yourself:

“What did my teen self need during the holidays that they didn’t get?”

✨Comfort?

✨Affection?

✨Validation?

✨Space?

✨A moment to breathe?

THEN GIVE that thing to YOURSELF today💛

Just one small gesture!

When you do, the entire climate of your home and emotional environment shifts and expands 🥳

🧡 4 Gentle Ways to Soothe Your Inner Teen During Family Gatherings THIS Season

1. Create TINY micro-pauses ⏸️

✨Before responding… breathe.

✨Before correcting… soften.

✨Before assuming… check in with your heart.

2. Let your worth be untethered from a need to reprise a past performance🎭

✨You don’t have to be the peacekeeper, the referee, the perfect host or the emotional glue…

✨It’s FINALLY time that YOU GET TO BE HUMAN TOO!!

3. See your teen through present eyes, not past ones🥹

4. If your inner teen still wants to administer master level eye-rolls or shutdowns…

✨Remember: Your current teen might just be feeling the same overwhelm, processing the emotions and/or needing your calm more than your questions!!

✨So…GIFT them the calm YOU sought💝

🧡 Why This Matters

When adults heal their inner teen, the whole family benefits! And not everyone is willing, able or wanting to do this often challenging self-reflectionary work! THAT is why YOUR courage and bravery allow for:

✨Patterns to shift

✨Conversations to soften

✨Connection to deepen

And the home (and Thanksgiving Table;) becomes a place where everyone - including you - can breathe again✌️

THIS year I hope you prepare and sit at the table not as the version of yourself that had to carry everything but as the version who finally gets to let go, be seen, supported and gets to ENJOY the experience where beautiful new memories can be made and treasured😉

As you tend to your inner teen, you’ll show others, including your child, how to tend to theirs too🙌

And THAT is the beginning of generational healing…

That is the heart of ever-evolving confidence💪

With So Much Love & Gratitude🙏

Jovanna

*P.S*

Stay tuned for more stress-free Holiday tips next month 💃🏻

And if this resonated with you, pass it along to someone you love. A little confidence ripple goes a long way🥰