Does anyone have any tips on getting along with a 16 year old daughter.I have a friend who has a daughter and they are at each others throats all the time. When they aren't fighting they are great.I feel like the daughter does not have respect for her mother,but don't know how to go about her getting that respect.Any tips?:cool:

Respect works both ways and unfortunately if they have got to this point then it will be hard for them to earn that respect again. The mother will have to learn to give respect as well-it's not like dealing with a toddler where they can just tell them what to do, this child is a young adult and should be treated as such.

chocolate is right, respect is a two way street. I have been told many times, that sometimes respect needs to be earner. Are you only hearing one side of the story here?

There is always a reason to anything. So knowing the reason why they are like these will likely solve the matter. I agree perfectly that the mother should also respect the child. But if this change of behavior will be done at this time, the child might think that she won and continue even more aggressive because she knows that her mother will just oblige. Knowing the root problem and try to talk about it would help a bit, of course with a mediator between them.

I think maybe its the old thing about 2 women in the same house. They both are trying for role of woman of the house. The daughter is almost 17 .

It can be true to a certain extent that a girl of that age can try to act older than she is, and try and do everything an adult does. They are after all almost there-and that is where the problem comes in.

The mother should probably be looking at ways to involve the girl in household decisions, in helping her to learn how to make a good decision rather than just dictating to her.

By involving her as much as possible it opens up the channels for respect and communication to develop. But that might mean the mother eating a large portion of humble pie first.