What do you say when your 13 year old insists "everyone else's parents allow it" TikTok, sleepovers, later curfews, all of it?
The everyone else can speech has arrived at our house. TikTok, sleepovers, walking around town, later curfew, all of it. I don't want to parent only from fear, but I also don't want to cave just because other families do things differently. How do you hold the line?
I say different families, different rules, and I do not debate the imaginary everyone for an hour. I explain once, then done.
Sometimes I check with other parents and surprise, everyone is not doing it. Teens are very creative with data.
We revisit at set ages or dates. Like we will talk about TikTok again at 14. That stops the daily courtroom drama a little.
For sleepovers we have criteria. We need to know the parents and the house rules. It feels less random than yes or no depending on my mood.