It may be a cry for help, or simple teenage rebellion. Either way, you need to find a new, less judgmental way to communicate
Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a problem sent in by a reader
My 15-year-old daughter has zero sense of personal hygiene. She currently has about a dozen used sanitary towels dropped on the floor, with food wrappers and rubbish. I have to nag her to bathe. She wears knickers several days in a row. I went in to her room and the stink turned my stomach. She’s looking at her tablet, oblivious to how disgusting and smelly it is.
She’s not depressed. She’s perfectly sociable at school and at home. I cannot wrap my head around how she’s so content to be to so disgusting. I am ashamed, especially given how many times I have gently spoken to her, nagged and/or screamed at her. She’s content to live in squalor. She tells me she doesn’t care.
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