A parent coach’s viral TikTok shows how toddlers are just like tweens
We’ve all heard about (or experienced firsthand) the terrible twos and threenager stages. Toddlers and teenagers both get a bad rep for being headstrong, overly independent, and prone to lashing out—and thanks to a viral TikTok, we’re learning they may actually be more similar than we thought. Parenting coach Rachael Rogers made a video where she compared ages 2, 3, and 4 with 12, 13, and 14, and parents are having an a-ha moment at how the ages—and the behaviors most commonly seen during them—line up.
“Did you know that the ages of 12, 13, and 14 years old mimic the ages of 2, 3, and 4 very closely?” Rogers says at the beginning of her video, which has racked up thousands of views.
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She then starts by comparing two-year-olds to 12-year-olds.
“Two-year-olds—they love to say ‘no’ or to talk back. They push the boundaries a lot. They’re super sneaky, and they’re getting into things that they shouldn’t be getting into,” she says. “Twelve-year-olds—same, same, and same.”
Next, the coach compares three-year-olds to 13-year-olds.
“Three-year-olds—they have an insatiable desire for freedom and independence. They think they can do anything on their own, the fastest and most drastic mood shifts of any other humans on the planet,” she says. “Thirteen-year-olds—same, same, and same.”
And finally, four-year-olds and 14-year-olds.
“Four-year-olds—they don’t think they need you anymore. They are fully convinced that they could move out right then and there and be totally fine taking care of themselves. They think they know everything there is to know about everything. The sky is not blue. The grass is not green. You’re an idiot, mom or dad,” she says. “Fourteen-year-olds—same, same, and same.”
Coach Rogers ends her video with this note: “in my group coaching program, I often have parents of preteens and teens paired up with parents of toddlers, and it is wild how much they can relate to one another.”
So the next time your toddler is driving you nuts, just know that you’ll get to do it all over again in 10 years. Parenthood—isn’t it beautiful?
