Hi Miss A,

Gosh, do I know how you feel! We all need our own space and just because it's in your parent's house doesn't change that. I can remember sleeping in my car to get away from the intrusiveness of my parents.

Once I was a Dad myself I had two clear rules with my daughter. 1, never go into her room without knocking 2, never say anything about tidying up her room, or her choice of clothes or music. I buttoned my lip on those topics, and I am so glad I did.

Maybe you could have a talk with your parents, and make clear that you need some privacy, but my experience has been that the parents are slow on this kind of stuff. They can't seem to help themselves.

So many relationships are about 'control'. If only parents could realise that by letting go of short term control they can have a good long term relationship.

Cheers, Myzen

PS - Just had a chat with my wife, who is a social worker, and she says that 'tidying teenagers bedrooms' is an issue in almost every case that she deals with. No surprises there.