They want to wear neon green crocs with a formal dress? Let them. They want to make a "slime lab" on the new coffee table? Put down a tarp and say yes. Their creativity is peaking, and this is the last window where they don't care if it looks silly.
They still think you are sort of cool (when their friends aren't looking). They tell you weird facts they learned on YouTube. They ask you about your day. You get to see the adult they are becoming—the witty sarcasm, the unique taste in music, the deep empathy—peeking out from behind the chubby cheeks that are slowly sharpening into a jawline. Survival Tips for Raising a Teen Bub If you are currently drowning in the backtalk mixed with bedtime cuddles, here is how I am surviving: teen bubs
The logic is broken. You cannot reason with a teen bub the way you reason with a 16-year-old, but you also can’t just pick them up and move them like a toddler. They want autonomy, but they don’t know what to do with it. You will negotiate screen time. You will hear "That's not fair" 47 times before breakfast. Your patience will be tested. They want to wear neon green crocs with a formal dress
One night you will go to kiss their forehead and they will flinch. The next night, they will crawl into your bed after a nightmare. Don't take it personally. They are learning to be brave, but they still need your safety net. The Bottom Line The "Teen Bubs" era is the eye of the storm. The baby years were the hurricane, and the actual teen years are the tsunami. Right now, you have a child who fits perfectly in the crook of your arm but is tall enough to reach the top shelf. Put down a tarp and say yes
When they stomp off to their room because you said no to a second hour of Roblox, let them have five minutes. Then go in with a snack. Food is the universal translator for the teen bub. They will forget why they were mad by the time they finish the goldfish.
There is a specific, magical kind of chaos that comes with having what I lovingly call “Teen Bubs.” You know the phase I’m talking about. They aren’t infants anymore, but they definitely aren’t independent big kids yet. They are the strange, wonderful, sticky-fingered hybrids of toddlerhood and the tween years.
April 14, 2026