I can't tell you not to take offence to something you are going to take offence to, TFB. Me? All my teens were of the 'hi, gotta go, bye' variety at one stage or the other. I don't take anyone pointing that out about my kids as me being a bad parent. It does, however, make me realise that they have grown up fast, and that they went from needing me, to not needing me, in what seemed like a split second.

And if I could talk to the author of this article, I'd tell her to hang in there, because as they come out of their teens, they come back slowly, and they actually start talking to you again, so not to despair. Does it mean I'm disrespecting her by pointing that out? I dunno, I don't think so.