Mom Explains Why She Allows Her 13-Year-Old Daughter Days Off From School When She's Not 'Feeling It'
She stressed the importance of providing her daughter with tools she can use to cater to her own mental health.
@tiffanytmoon / TikTok A mom shared the heartwarming way that she's trying to raise her daughter differently from how she was raised.
In a TikTok video, Tiffany Turner Moon took viewers along on the type of day she will spend with her 13-year-old daughter, Bella, whenever she admits to feeling mentally drained.
She explained why she allows her daughter to have days off from school when she's feeling overwhelmed.
"We are back with other things my 13-year-old has that I did not," Turner Moon began in a video series she does on her platform, but this time, it was all about mental health.
The mom-of-two informed viewers that she allows her eldest daughter to have days where she doesn't go to school, calling them "mental health days off," for whenever she's feeling overwhelmed and drained. "If she wakes up and she's not feeling it, she's taking the day off from school."
Instead of just letting her daughter stay home and rot on the couch all day, Turner Moon acknowledged that she tries to do things with her that can boost her serotonin and turn her day around. She showed taking her daughter to get pedicures and manicures, going on Target runs, and picking up food.
"It can be anywhere from a lunch date, to an appointment with her therapist, or just a walk outside," she continued. "Sometimes I'll take the day off of work and do her hair for her and we'll watch a movie together."
Turner Moon stressed that these moments are meant to "pour back into her," and she hopes that by showing her daughter the importance of taking her mental health seriously and actively doing these self-care remedies, she'll carry these things into her adulthood.
It's important that teenagers are allowed days to cater to their mental health.
While it can be common for working adults to take a day or two away from work when they're starting to feel stressed and burnt out, the same should be expected from teenagers. Of course, these mental health days off need to be taken with a grain of salt and can't happen too frequently, but every once in a while won't hurt.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, more than 4 in 10 high school students in the United States admitted to feeling sad or hopeless, and nearly one-third experienced poor mental health.
Most of this stress comes from the pressure of trying to do well in school and plan for their futures. Per a 2019 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, about 6 in 10 teens (59%) say they plan to attend a four-year college after they finish high school, and these teens are more likely than those who have other plans to say they face a lot of pressure to get good grades.
The importance of allowing teenagers to take dedicated mental health days can't be overlooked. In a world increasingly defined by the extreme demands and pressures placed upon kids, these mental health days can act as a lifeline, providing crucial space for self-care.
In an interview with TODAY Parents, Turner Moon explained that she used to be the kind of parent who was obsessed with her child having perfect attendance and not missing any days of school, but quickly realized that's not a sustainable expectation to have.
"It took her telling me that I put too much pressure on her to get me to kind of reevaluate and say to myself, ‘You know what, she can miss a couple of days and still be on [the] honor roll,'" she told the news outlet.
Turner Moon sharing how she actively takes care of her daughter beyond just physical needs, but also mentally and emotionally, stands as a beacon for other parents to realize that just because their children are young teenagers doesn't mean their needs are juvenile and should not be ignored.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.