02/08/2025
Sometimes I think the older generation just doesnât understand that the world weâre raising our kids in is nothing like the one they grew up in.
When they say, âWe turned out fine,â I want to remind them that fine is a pretty low bar.
And that we, as parents, are aiming for more than fine.
Weâre 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 donât have to grow up thinking they have to âtough it outâ alone.
Because letâs be honest, times are different.
Not worse. Not better. Just different.
We canât send our kids outside for hours with no way to reach them like our parents did, because the world isnât the same. We know too much now.
We canât tell our kids to âjust ignore itâ when someone is bullying them, because that bullying doesnât end when the school bell rings, it follows them home through a screen.
We canât push aside mental health struggles as âjust a phaseâ because weâve seen the damage ignoring it can do.
Weâre not helicopter parents.
Weâre parents who have to pay attention to things our parents never had to think about whatâs being shared online, whoâs messaging our kids, the pressures of comparison that come with social media.
And maybe we are softer.
But maybe thatâs okay.
Because this generation of kids is growing up in a time thatâs louder, faster, and harsher than ever before. They need homes that feel like safe places. Parents who will listen. Adults who remind them itâs okay to not be okay.
So if the older generation wants to roll their eyes at us for raising kids differently, let them.
They donât have to understand our world.
They just have to remember that every generation has faced its own challenges, and weâre doing the best we can with the one weâve been handed.
Because the truth is, we arenât just raising kids.
Weâre raising future adults who will know how to speak up, set boundaries, and lead with empathy, and Iâll take that over âjust fineâ any day.
