Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“Right after an argument, before anyone's ready to talk it out, what do you actually need in that moment?”
What to listen for
If they say space or quiet, that's not rejection, they need to know that asking for time to cool off will be respected, not treated as stonewalling.
If they say they want someone to check in without pushing to resolve things immediately, that's a specific and useful thing to know, they need that light touch honored next time tempers are still hot.
If they're not sure, you can offer what you've noticed helps them and ask if that's close, collaborating on the answer together is fine here.
What this tells you
What they need right after conflict shows you how to actually help them reset instead of accidentally making it worse.