Parenting my teens No. 10 | Ruth

We all love a peek into other people’s parenting. It can be much harder to find relatable stories when you have teens, though. We get that teens aren’t always quite so overjoyed to see their lives shared online, but there’s so much that’s positive, funny and wonderful about parenting teens. Our ‘parenting my teens’ Q&A series is designed to help fill the gap and inspire parents of teens everywhere.

A massive thank you to Ruth for sharing her ‘parenting my teens’ story.

Tell us a little bit about you and your teen/s:

Hello, I’m Ruth from Hello Ruth. I create gifts and cards using photos that customers supply. I have two teenagers, Henry (15) and Rose (nearly 13).

Describe your parenting style in three words:

Loving, fun, fair.

Now ask your teen/s to describe your parenting style in three words!

Overbearing, annoying, strict.

How is parenting your teen/s now compared to when they were toddlers?

I don’t need to play with them now like when they were little. They are completely self sufficient. I am only needed to chauffeur and supply food.

What is your biggest parenting fail? Make us all feel better!

They are both addicted to their phones!

And what are you most proud of as a parent?

That they both got into grammar school.

What has surprised you most about your teen/s?

How charming they are with other parents.

What’s your best trick to starting a conversation with your teen/s?

With my son, it has to be food, football or gaming related. With my daughter, it has to be TikTok, baking or clothes related.

What do your teen/s say you do that embarrasses them most?

Breathing!

 And what do they think you say that either annoys them or encourages them the most – your choice!

They say I ask too many questions and that’s annoying for them. I say it’s conversation!

How do you approach the hard conversations – sex, porn, drugs and social media?

I try to be as honest as possible. When I go into too much detail, then they wished they never asked!

What/who has been the biggest influence on your parenting style?

My parents; my dad was the fun one and my mum was the strict parent. They were rubbish about telling us about sex etc. I didn’t want to be like that so I am too much the other way.

Where do you think your teens will be in 10 years’ time?

Hopefully they will be happy, content and will have done some travelling.

Given what you know now, what would you do differently? Get a dog instead?!

I think that I should have made sure they tidied up after themselves and maybe they wouldn’t be so messy now.

Thank you so much, Ruth, for telling us about your experience of parenting teens. 

Ruth’s business, Hello Ruth, is definitely one to check out. It’s a brilliant collection of photo collages, prints, cards and personalised gift ideas. So clever! Find out more by folllowing Ruth’s very entertaining Instagram account.

If you’d like to read the earlier blogs from this series, you’ll find them all in the Parenting Teens section of our blog.

Louise & Anna x

A little bit about Equipp

We’re Louise & Anna, mum to 5 teens and young adults. We set up Equipp to help spread happiness and positivity amongst today’s amazing young people. We believe it’s vital that every teenager is given confidence to believe in themselves.  Telling them how wonderful they are and putting a daily smile on their faces via the cards and gifts they receive from Equipp is integral to everything we design and produce. Have a browse around our collections of birthday and teenage milestone gifts and please do get in touch if you have any questions or would like any recommendation.

We love to celebrate teenagers in every way, and are building a community of parents who feel the same. We hope you enjoy reading our blog posts and we’d love it if you came and joined us on Instagram or Facebook to chat about parenting teens.

Oh, and we’re raising money for a fantastic teenage suicide prevention charity, Hector’s House, with a donation from every purchase from Equipp.