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Motherhood

Mom aims to debunk the myth that raising teenage girls is 'terrible'

"I can’t recall anyone telling me anything positive about parenting a teenage girl."

There are just as many lovely moments as terrible ones.

No stereotypical depiction of a teenage girl would be complete without eye rolls, attitude and a whole lotta drama. But how accurate is that pop culture image, really?

According to one teen girl mom, we should give them a bit more credit. It’s not all burn books and bad behavior. In fact, there’s so much to specifically appreciate about this age group.

Dr. Meghan Martin, emergency medicine physician and "teen girl mom," recently made a video listing off all the ways interacting with her own teen daughter has been quite lovely—hoping that it might debunk the myth that teenage girls are “terrible” to deal with for other teen girl parents.


For one thing, Martin loves that her not-so-little girl is a little more self-sufficient.

“She's fully sleep-trained. There are no more diapers. There are other expenses certainly, but she actually has a job and helps contribute to those expenses,” she says in a TikTok video.

In addition, with more maturity comes more opportunities for “really cool conversations,” rather than those of the “unhinged toddler" variety. Martin’s daughter is particularly good at asking interesting conversations, examples including: “Where are the pockets?”; “Why is that so expensive?”; and “Why don't law enforcement and paramedics get paid more?”

Lastly, Martin loves that her teen daughter contributes to the house. Sure, she might have to be asked a couple of times occasionally, but “it still gets done, and it gets done pretty well.”

Martin even boasts about a sushi bowl dinner her daughter made, every detail of which she handled on her own, “from the shopping list through the freezing and the salt washing and sugar washing and then even cleaned up.”

“They were way better than I would have made!” Martin gushes.


@beachgem10 I can’t recall anyone telling me anything positive about parenting a teenage girl. There are challenges, of course, but I’m actually enjoying this phase #parenting #girlmom #girldad ♬ original sound - Beachgem10


Of course, Martin isn’t denying that, just like with every phase of raising a kid, this time period has its challenges. And she admits that, yes, there are eye rolls and attitude issues here and there. But the bad certainly does not outweigh the good.

“I'm so excited to see what she does when she grows up, and I'm so proud of her every single day, and I'm certainly holding on for dear life to these last couple years. All of the things, all the terrible things that they say about raising teenage girls and how terrible it is — I want you to know that it can also be really great. They're still your kid, and they're still amazing,” Martin concludes.

Down in the comments section, it was clear that many moms who have yet to be in the teen girl phase of their daughters’ lives were made hopeful by Martin’s stance.

“I’m pregnant with my first girl. This video makes me even more excited,” one wrote.

Another added, “now I’m crying because I can’t wait to meet my teenage daughter!”

Others chimed in to agree, based on their own positive experiences.

“I love being a mom to teenagers,” one mom wrote. “I have three girls ages 16, 13 and 11. This is the best phase to me. Love seeing them grow into young women. I echo all you said!”

Another said, “My 3 daughters are all adults now, but the teenage years were fun. Now they are really great humans. I’m proud of them all.”

And the most heart warming comment of all: “It keeps getting better! Having a daughter is my greatest blessing.”

I think we can all agree that teen girls have to navigate through enough challenges on their way to becoming functional, healthy, happy adults. Let’s not add preconceived notions into the mix.