Joanna Fortune: My 10-year-old daughter unleashes her frustration on me 

"Your daughter knows she can exhale all those difficult feelings, secure in the knowledge you will catch, contain and help her understand and manage them."

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Our 10-year-old daughter is caring, sensitive and has friends. She is a ‘good child’ and afraid to get in trouble which can lead to her storing anger or frustration and unleashing it on me. The slightest action or comment from me seems to trigger her. She has a different dynamic with her dad, who is quieter than I am and doesn’t challenge him. She says sometimes she doesn’t know how to read if he’s unhappy or annoyed with her. She feels anxious about trying new things, but they generally go well after coaxing, and she is proud of herself. What can we do to help navigate this?

It sounds like you have a sensitive child who may be showing some perfectionist tendencies. It is not ideal when our children are afraid to get into trouble as it can feed these perfectionistic tendencies and deny opportunities to learn from making mistakes.