How do I apologize for reading my daughter's journal when the entry upset me?
Parenting"You weren't meant to agree with it. You weren't meant to read it." My fourteen-year-old took the yellow notebook out of my hands.
I had opened it while clearing cups from her room. At eight she used the same notebook to write stories she read to me. I saw a page beginning "I hate this house" and kept going. I knew by the second paragraph that it was private writing. I still read enough to find complaints about our rules and her younger brother.
At dinner I asked why she felt that way. She wanted to know how I knew. I tried to say I was worried, then admitted opening the book. She hasn't spoken about the entry since; she only talks about me reading it.
I didn't find a specific threat or plan to harm anyone. I found anger I didn't like seeing written down. How can I repair the intrusion without using the apology as another attempt to get her to explain every sentence?