Teens vs. Toddlers

When my oldest daughter turned two, someone sent us a one column cartoon that had pictures of parents in the hospital holding their newborn baby. The caption read, “Well, I guess that the hard part is over.”

My oldest is now 15 and the cartoon still hangs on our refrigerator and it still makes me chuckle. Each year it gets funnier as I keep thinking, “Well, I guess that the hard part is over.”

But it only seems to get harder, not easier.

There are many days when I think to myself, if only my girls were little again. They used to listen to me, cuddle me, and think that I was the smartest person in the whole world. Now, they ignore me, hole up in their rooms, and think that I know nothing.

Then I remember how hard it was to have a toddler. I couldn’t sleep in, I had to do everything for them, and I had to go everywhere they went. Now, my girls sleep late, can dress and feed themselves, and go places on their own now.

So, what is really harder, a teen or a toddler?

Let the debate begin!


Toddler – gets up at 6:00 am ready to start the day while you just want another hour to sleep (but you would settle for 10 minutes).
Teen – asks for another 10 minutes of sleep every 10 minutes for an hour until 1:00 pm.


Toddler – you have to pick out their clothes and dress them. If they don’t like it they will have a tantrum.
Teen – they pick their own clothes (by the way, have you seen how short the girls shorts are lately?). If you don’t like it, you throw a tantrum while they tell you that you have “no fashion sense” and give you the silent treatment.


Toddler – sasses back.
Teen – REALLY sasses back. I mean really. You don’t know sassy until you have had a teenage girl.


Toddler – dirty diapers.
Teen – gym uniforms.


Toddler – lots of activities and play-dates to see what their interests are.
Teen – one interest that takes up ALL of their time.


Toddler – learning the difference between boys and girls.
Teen – learning the real difference between boys and girls.


Toddler – “I want to marry Daddy.”
Teen – “I want to marry Justin Bieber.”


Toddler – won’t take a nap when you want them to.
Teen – takes a nap when you don’t want them to.


Toddler – wants you around EVERY second of the day. (Can’t I please get a minute to pee by myself?)
Teen – doesn’t want you around EVER. (Can’t I please get a minute to talk to you? I forgot what you look like.)


Toddler – toys all over the family room; you can’t walk without stepping on a Lego or a Polly Pocket.
Teen – clothes and food all over their room; you don’t want to know what you stepped on.


Toddler – when dining out they won’t sit down or quiet down.
Teen – when dining out you can’t get them to look up from their phone or talk (at least without threat of losing their phone for a month).


Toddler – it takes a lot of energy to give them a bath.
Teen – it takes a lot of water for them to shower.


Toddler – needs 10 stories, 3 songs, 2 glasses of water, and 100 kisses before you can get them to sleep at 8:00; the exhaustion of you trying to put them down causes you to fall asleep by 8:30 (sometimes before them).
Teen – needs 10 YouTube videos, 3 TV shows, 2 glasses of soda, and NO kisses before you can get them to sleep at 10:00; the exhaustion of dealing with them causes you to fall asleep by 8:30 (often before them).


Toddler – you worry about them getting hurt.
Teen – you worry about them getting hurt.


Toddler – looks like an angel when sleeping.
Teen – looks like an angel when sleeping.



Karen Rosenberg is starting her 7th new career by writing. She started her adult life as an actor, moved on to co-running a theatre, tried her hand at designing websites, taught at Gymboree, and is currently a full time mommy and school volunteer. Using the same creative skills as in her previous “jobs” she has decided to write. Karen lives in the Chicago Suburbs with her two daughters and her husband who have been very supportive of all of her “careers”. You can follow Karen on “Twitter”, and Tumblr -but there is nothing to follow as her teenager has yet to explain how to use it in terms that she can understand.