My son is acting distant so I checked his chats, but seeing his private conversations makes me feel like a total spy. I want to keep him safe, but is there a way to do this without feeling so dishonest?
Yeah, that guilt is actually a healthy sign — it means you’ve got good instincts as a parent. The move that usually fixes this is just telling him upfront that you have access and why, because monitoring with transparency feels way less like spying and more like parenting. Most kids behave better and trust you more when they know the deal, versus the anxiety of wondering if mom’s reading everything in secret.