Every parent has unfinished business: the piano lessons abandoned, the varsity tryouts missed, the dream job that never materialized. Then comes your teenager — fresh, capable, full of possibility — and suddenly you’re imagining their life as the sequel to yours.

They can run a group chat, edit videos, and Google their way through a math worksheet — but apparently, making a sandwich is “too hard.” The “Still a Baby” Trap unpacks how modern parents accidentally turn capable tweens into part-time toddlers, and how to hand the reins back without starting a household revolution.

When parenting teens we are sometimes left bewildered, staring at the shifting teen weather (mood) patterns like a farmer without an umbrella. Should I plant crops or build an ark... or give up on farming completely? It’s tempting — dangerously tempting — to interpret these shifting moods as deep flaws. We might mutter under our breath: “She’s so dramatic. He’s so lazy. They’re impossible.” But by doing so we are mistaking turbulence for identity.

Tweens are already walking through middle school as if the hallway is a live comedy roast. Every zit, voice crack, or mismatched outfit feels like global humiliation. Now imagine that same kid discovering you just uploaded their awkward school photo to your 300 Facebook friends with the caption, “My little man is growing up so fast!” Let's look at how parents became publicists of their children’s lives, why it backfires, and how to celebrate without broadcasting every milesto

Tweens are just beginning to script their own social lives. But too often, parents storm the writer’s room, pencil in stereotypes, and give casting notes on every new friend. This chapter explores why we judge so quickly, how it backfires, and what to do instead — without becoming the meddling network executive who gets the show canceled.

Rules that don’t grow with teens don’t keep order. They create resentment, rebellion, and eye-rolls strong enough to power a wind farm. And yet, some parents act like household rules were carved into stone tablets and handed down by the Parenting Gods. Bedtime is 8:30. Curfew is 9. Lights out by 10. End of discussion. That might have worked beautifully when your child was 10. But now they’re 17, taller than you, with a driver’s license — and the same rules suddenly feel ridic

There’s a strange, universal moment in parenting teens: one day, your child makes a surprisingly insightful observation about life. Fast-forward to later that same day when this almost-adult, leaves a full glass of milk in their room for three days until it begins to resemble a new species.

Parents love to divide the world into “serious” and “silly.” School subjects? Serious. Sports teams with uniforms? Serious. Minecraft, Pokémon, Roblox, TikTok dances? Silly. But tweens don’t see that line. For them, joy is serious. Their passions — no matter how pixelated or obscure — are the seeds of curiosity, creativity, and confidence. The danger is that when we dismiss those seeds, we risk choking off growth before it begins.

Parents want to stay connected to their teens — but sometimes, in the attempt to be “cool,” they land squarely in cringe territory. Teens don’t need us to master TikTok dances or invade their group chats. What they need is a steady adult who respects their boundaries while staying interested. Let's look at how to step back from the skinny jeans, put down the slang dictionary, and embrace actual cool parenting strategy: being yourself.

Every generation swears their youth was tougher, purer, and character-building — usually right before a teen rolls their eyes into another dimension. The “Back in My Day” Time Machine unpacks why our nostalgia sounds less like connection and more like competition. Because while you’re reminiscing about dial-up internet, your teen’s just trying to survive high-speed adolescence — and they need empathy more than history lessons.