02/08/2025
Sometimes I think the older generation just doesn’t understand that the world we’re raising our kids in is nothing like the one they grew up in.
When they say, “We turned out fine,” I want to remind them that fine is a pretty low bar.
And that we, as parents, are aiming for more than fine.
We’re trying to raise kids who are resilient but also feel safe to talk about their feelings. Kids who know boundaries but also know compassion. Kids who don’t have to grow up thinking they have to “tough it out” alone.
Because let’s be honest, times are different.
Not worse. Not better. Just different.
We can’t send our kids outside for hours with no way to reach them like our parents did, because the world isn’t the same. We know too much now.
We can’t tell our kids to “just ignore it” when someone is bullying them, because that bullying doesn’t end when the school bell rings, it follows them home through a screen.
We can’t push aside mental health struggles as “just a phase” because we’ve seen the damage ignoring it can do.
We’re not helicopter parents.
We’re parents who have to pay attention to things our parents never had to think about what’s being shared online, who’s messaging our kids, the pressures of comparison that come with social media.
And maybe we are softer.
But maybe that’s okay.
Because this generation of kids is growing up in a time that’s louder, faster, and harsher than ever before. They need homes that feel like safe places. Parents who will listen. Adults who remind them it’s okay to not be okay.
So if the older generation wants to roll their eyes at us for raising kids differently, let them.
They don’t have to understand our world.
They just have to remember that every generation has faced its own challenges, and we’re doing the best we can with the one we’ve been handed.
Because the truth is, we aren’t just raising kids.
We’re raising future adults who will know how to speak up, set boundaries, and lead with empathy, and I’ll take that over “just fine” any day.
