The tween energy has arrived at Meg St-Esprit’s house: “As soon as our oldest turned 11, the doors immediately started slamming.”

And frankly, her own reaction caught her by surprise: “I’m supposed to be a parenting expert, so one would think I’d be better equipped to deal with the surge of hormones, and the accompanying attitude, that marks the start of adolescence. But it turns out that having the intellectual knowledge about why tweens act this way doesn’t make me very good at dealing when my own acts this way.” Like the thoughtful writer she is, she’s working through her next moves – and starting out by talking to her kid about why he’s acting this way. It’s a great piece.

Kelly Faircloth, Executive Editor