Parenting my teens No. 11 | Sarah

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 Sarah for sharing her ‘parenting my teens’ story.

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

I have 3 children, who are 25, 18 and 14.

Describe your parenting style in three words:

Fair, firm, rewarding

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

Nice, kind, ok (from my 14 year old). Firm, supportive, high expectations (from my 18 year old).

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

Just as hard!

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

Doing too much for them! And so not making them independent enough in some areas.

And what are you most proud of as a parent?

They’re the kindest to others, no matter what situation or walk of life that person has come from or what mental challenges those people might have. They’re great children.

What has surprised you most about your teen/s?

The way they’ve adapted to new life changes.

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

I’m going shopping, is there anything that I can get for you?

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

They both said nothing – it’s a miracle!

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

Annoy me – when you don’t understand why I’m feeling some way sometimes. Encourages – when you say you’re proud of me.

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

With my 14 year old teen, I don’t have to, he approaches me. He has ASD and no filter sometimes, which makes it funny and unexpected.

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

I guess my mother in some things, but in other things I found my own, better ways of being closer to my children and wanting to spend time with them.

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

One I expect to be working high up in a fashion marketing company. The other would be working in either the food industry or acting.

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

That’s a hard one, as I feel I’m still learning… maybe ask me that in 10 years’ time!

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

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.