I'm having a project in my psychology class and i as a teen parents would like to know other stories of how being a teen parent changed your life physically and emotionally for both mom and dad?
How has being a teen parent changed your life physically and emotionally for both parents?
Being a teen parent of 3 teenage daughters is a mind game in itself but add in the fact that two of those teens are my stepdaughters is even more of a challenge. I can teach them all the same but the two stepdaughters get advise from their (weekend mom) which is very conflicting. She tells them to do what makes them happy and don't worry about what other people think while I am busy telling them to make morally right decisions and try to consider others when you are making them.
I work 8 hours aday only to come home to my second job of hearing heart breaking stories about their boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, their friends boyfriends or lack of. Who is having sex, who is pregnant and so on. I might as well be back in high school because I feel every painful breakup, lost friendship, and anything else they feel necessary to tell me. Oh, and then there are the HELPFUL friends who think it is there place to tell me about the rumors about my own kids. You think your kids don't want to hear about their parents having s**??? Well I don't want to hear rumors about my babies that I nursed and diapered and taught to ride a bike having s**. It is so emotionally draining. I would much rather go back to burping, diapers and Barney than the teenage years.
Hope this has helped you out.
How has being a teen parent changed your life physically and emotionally for both parents?
I'm the parent of a teen parent, so I hope my answer counts, but I'm betting it is not what you expect.
My daughter was involved with a bad group of kids around the age of 14. They pressured her to drink, have sex, and run away from home (she never actually ran away, but I think she wanted to). During this time she also had several disappointing experiences at school (such as not making a certain team) and an adult that she trusted began to verbally abuse her. Her self-esteem was not the best, and she was depressed. Her grades dropped, and she constantly talked about how she hated school. She nearly stopped eating and lost too much weight. Eventually she got into a relationship, became pregnant, and had a baby at 16.
Pregnancy was a major turning point in her life. She started taking much better care of her body. She now eats healthy meals, exercises, and is of normal weight - she is very attractive, in fact. She went back to school and started earning excellent grades. She finished all her high school courses a year early and started taking college courses in her senior year. She has been accepted into several good universities and plans to study pre-med. She seems happy and goal oriented for the first time in her life. Her son, now a year and a half old, has been a joy to the entire family. She feels that he is the best thing that ever happened to her.
I can tell you that a teen pregnancy changes the entire family, not just the parents of the baby. My daughter and grandson live in our household. As her parents, when we first found out she was pregnant, we went through all the stages of grief - because having a baby at a young age IS a loss - a loss of her youth and freedom, and a loss of much of our freedom as well. There has been a financial burden that we have accepted for now, because without our support, our daughter would not be able to go to college and develop her talents, and our grandson would have almost nothing. We promised to take care of her as long as she needs us. As a couple looking toward the empty nest and some plans of our own, we had to put these things on hold. We don't know if we will ever realize those dreams now - life is short, and every year the chances diminish.
Our other children come home to visit, but the house is full, and one has had to give up a bedroom for the grandkid. We get a lot less sleep than we want - something we thought we would never again do in our lives. But we all make do. Our grandson has also brought a lot of joy and life into our home, and we love him as much as any of our own kids. We would do anything for him.
I'm not recommending that teen girls can solve their problems by having babies, but I would point out that with good support, their lives do not have to be ruined, and their future plans can still be realized. But it takes an awful lot of work and family support for that to happen. For better or for worse, the whole family dynamic does change to center around the baby. I would not say that for us or our daughter, life is either better or worse. It is just different from what we envisioned.
I'm not a teen parent myself, but my best friend is soon to be one. Before she got pregnant, she had a hard life. She was abused throughout her life by quite a few people, abused drugs, suffered from various mental disorders, stopped caring about education (she was homeschooled anyway, but she gave up on that), was always suicidal or depressed. The beginning of her pregnancy was hard because of the way the baby's father was treating her. Now, the baby's father is in jail %26amp; my friend is due to have her son within the next couple of weeks. She has improved SO much %26amp; I am so proud of her. She obtained her GED recently %26amp; has plans to go to college when her son is a little older. She is the happiest I have EVER seen her in the 6-9 years I've known her. Of course she won't get to spend too much time on her own the first year of her son's life %26amp; she probably won't get any more sleep than she already does now, but to her, it's all worth it.
It was honestly the best decision I ever made. My life has meaning now. Before my son, I was on drugs and an alcoholic. Very out of control. The father left me a month into the pregnancy but I met my current boyfriend 4 months into the pregnancy and let me tell you.. he was raised right. He wasn't bothered by the fact that I was pregnant, he grew up with a wide range of different family members (foster kids). He would put his hands on my belly and feel him move and he was there when I gave birth and actually PUT me into hard labor because I was so relaxed! 2 years later we are renting a house, he is general manager of Pizza Hut which makes pretty good money for right now and I am an assistant manager at a storage facility. We still get government assistance (medical card) but we are doing pretty good for ourselves. I am in better shape then I was before I got pregnant besides the fact that they didn't sew me up right after I gave birth and it rips every now and then during intercourse (ouch!). My boyfriend and I love each other so much, we have a pretty hard fight about every six months but it's mostly love. My parents helped me out until my son was a year old until I could do it myself solely. I'm 19 now and my boyfriend is 23. We absolutely love being parents and do everything together. We are starting college this fall. He's had taken a few classes but I've never went before. Pretty exciting!
