#momsofteens
Most of these will sound small, but trust does not break with a teenage girl in one big moment. It deteriorates through the ordinary stuff you do on autopilot...
1️⃣ You fix it before she finishes. She learns to stop bringing you the story.
2️⃣ You read her face and announce the mood. She starts managing your assumptions instead of telling you what's real.
3️⃣ You compare her to someone else. She hears she isn't enough.
4️⃣ You talk about her private matters in front of other people. She learns you aren't safe for the real stuff.
5️⃣ You use what she told you later. She won't make that mistake twice.
6️⃣ You treat every big feeling like a problem to solve. She stops showing you her emotions.
7️⃣ You ask about the grade before you ask about her. She hears her performance matters most.
8️⃣ You laugh at the thing she's serious about. That door closes.
9️⃣ You go cold instead of saying you're upset. She learns to walk on eggshells.
🔟 You make her wins about you. She wonders if they were ever hers.
1️⃣1️⃣ You promise you'll stay calm, then you don't. Honesty starts to feel risky.
1️⃣2️⃣ You decide who she is before she has. Labels become a verdict.
If you want trust, respect, and connection with your teenage daughter, it starts by looking within.
The stories we've inherited about how teenage girls "should" be often shape these moments more than we realize. I see it in the empowerment workshops I lead with women and girls worldwide.
I created a quiz called "Who Is My Inner Teenage Girl?" Comment Quiz (or the link is in my bio) and I'll send it to you!
#teenagegirls #raisingdaughters #momsofteens #parentingteens #girlmom
I thought my anxiety was protecting my kids.
It took me years to realize what it was actually protecting.
For so long, I believed that worrying was part of being a good mom.
If I kept thinking about it...
Kept running through every possible scenario...
Kept trying to figure out the right thing to say or do...
Then somehow I was still helping.
Because what kind of mother wouldn’t worry?
But here’s what I finally realized:
My anxiety wasn’t protecting my boys.
It was protecting me from the discomfort of not knowing.
From the uncertainty of watching people I love make choices I couldn’t control.
From accepting that there were some lessons they had to learn without me.
Because if I kept worrying...
It felt like I was still doing something.
It felt responsible.
It felt productive.
It felt like love.
But it wasn’t creating peace.
It wasn’t changing the outcome for my boys.
And it wasn’t making me the mom I wanted to be.
As your big kid grows up, you don’t need to stop caring.
But you can learn to care...without carrying the weight of every outcome.
That, my friend, is what letting go really means.
I unpack all of this in Episode 265 of The Almost Empty Nest Podcast:
“The Anxiety of Raising Teens and Adult Kids: What Happens When You Can’t Do Anything But Watch?”
👇 Comment 265 and I’ll send you the episode.
👇 Comment CLASS and I’ll send you the details for my upcoming free masterclasses on The Art of Letting Go and Setting Boundaries (with Your Teen and Yourself).
These classes aren’t about getting your teen to change.
They’re about helping you stop living on an emotional roller coaster, trust yourself more deeply, and experience the peace that’s possible—even while your child is still figuring out their own life.
#momsofteens #raisingbigkids #parentingteens #lettinggo #anxiousmom
Raising a teenager is basically a full-time comedy show.
Their slang changes every week…
Their appetite never change.😘🍟
Moms of teens…
What’s the funniest thing your kid has said lately?
I pray for her future husband…and my bank account😳
@edikted @starbucks
#teen #teenager #momsofteens #broke #starbucks
Unless of course they legit NEEEEEED something.🤣
#momsofteens #momofteenagers #njmom
Something about a clean kitchen turns them into Betty Crocker herself 😭😩
.
.
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#motherdaughterduo #momsofteens #raisingteens #parentinghumor #momanddaughter
May the best child win 🙌🏻 #momsofinstagram #momlife #singlemomlife #momsofteens
Anyone else’s teen gatekeep the charger… or just mine? 😭🤣
What percentage is your phone currently at? Mine 33% 😂😅
#momlife #momsofteens #momofinstagram #momhumor #momlifeunfiltered
Unless of course they legit NEEEEEED something 😂
#momsofteens #momofteenagers
Your teen comes home and you ask,
“how was your day?”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
Here’s what I wish someone told me years ago:
Their nervous system just spent 6+ hours regulating school, friends, teachers, and social cues. By 3pm, they’re done.
Those one-word answers aren’t attitude. It’s a brain trying to recover.
I sit in my car for a few minutes before going inside after work.
That’s my nervous system taking a break.
Your teen needs that too. They just can’t always explain it.
So instead of pushing, I started doing this:
✨ I stopped asking questions the moment he walked in the door.
No, “How was your day?”
No, “Do you have homework?”
Those questions can demand something from a brain that has very little left to give.
Instead I say,
“Hi. So glad you’re home.”
That’s it.
✨ I stopped following him around.
No, “Put your slides away.”
No, “Where’s your water bottle?”
I let him drop his stuff, grab a snack, and breathe.
His brain needs a minute before it can connect again.
And yes, the shoes still need to get put away.
The homework still needs to happen.
The phone still needs boundaries.
I just stopped making the first few minutes home the place where all of it had to happen.
The goal isn’t getting your teen to talk to you.
It’s becoming the person they want to talk to.
And this is exactly why I created my parenting framework.
Because understanding your teen is one thing.
Knowing what to do in the actual moment, when you’re tired, irritated, and trying not to turn it into another argument, is another.
That’s what I teach inside The Connection SHIFT.
The Connection SHIFT is $67.
If you care about who your teen is becoming, not just how they acted today, this will meet you there.
Comment SHIFT and start knowing what to do next 🫶🏼
#motherhood #parentingteens #raisingteens #parenting #parentcoach
Y'all teens sleeping till noon or is it just mine? 🫠😮💨😂
Moms of teens; women over 40, relatable, mom of 3, funny, not funny lol
Regrettable I was definitely a menace. Sorry Jesus and fellow ACS people. Now I’m a mom raising kids that ain’t getting away with shhhhh #fyp #millennial #millennialmom #humor #momsofteens
