Most people love and hate their parents all at the same time! They can drive you completely mad but you usually love them very much.

Growing up to be a teenager can be tough and it can be hard learning who you are and what you are about. To do this, most teenagers will try and break away from their parents. Some people call this ‘rebelling’ although it’s usually just your way of finding your own space.

Having an ABI can make things harder. When you hurt your head you would have been very sick. There may have been a chance of you dying and your parents would have been worried sick.

Thankfully, you pulled through and now you are getting better but it is understandable that your parents may now want to protect you from everything!

Part of finding who you are can be through making your own mistakes. Over-protective parents can make this difficult and you can find this really stressful! You just want to learn for yourself.

Aaargggh! My parents are driving me nuts! 

Adults were teenagers a long time ago! They can sometimes forget what it was like! Spend a few moments thinking about how your parents are annoying you. Here are some things that most people think about:

• They don’t let me do anything!
• They treat me like a baby
• They are really embarrassing in public
• They think they understand how I feel
• They never let me finish a sentence
• They don’t practice what they preach.
• The let my brother sand sisters do everything
• They don’t let me do what I want to.

All of these feelings are very real and they affect a lot of children and teenagers with ABI. Click on Nurse Anna to get some tips on talking to your parents or in the meantime, get your parents to read this page. They may have some idea what you are going through.