Jennie Garth on raising teenagers: ‘it’s definitely not for the faint of heart’


Jennie Garth has three daughters with her ex husband, Peter Facinelli: Luca, 23, Lola, 18, and Fiona, 14. Jennie gave some quotes to People Magazine about teaching teenagers how to drive and how stressful it is to parent them in general. I came away from this feeling sorry for her like she must be going through a lot at home. You don’t issue these type of warnings unless you’ve seen some sh-t as a mom. Kelly is promoting her partnership with Kelley Blue Book, the car guide, and their 2021 Best Family Cars Guide.

“My job now is to just sort of keep them in the right lane, because they’re doing their thing and they’re becoming who they are and who they want to be,” says the proud mom. “And I’m just there to support that and kind of nudge them left and right to just keep them going in the right direction. Because I kind of feel like my work here is done, but it’s never done.”

But as is inevitable with mother/daughter relationships, she’s found it easy to butt heads with her girls at times. “When you’re a parent, I could breathe the wrong way, and it would be like the end of the world,” Garth says. “But for the most part, they think I’m pretty cool, and we can hang out.”

The What I Like About You actress has also announced a partnership with Kelley Blue Book, as she prepares her youngest for getting behind the wheel. Garth highly recommends their 2021 Best Family Cars list, which she says is “a great reference for families out there, looking for the best fit.”

She understands the concern of making sure her kids are driving a safe vehicle, as she personally taught Luca, Lola and (soon) Fiona how to drive.

“I did all the teaching, and it was, and still is, so stressful to teach your kids how to drive,” Garth tells PEOPLE. “Maybe you should have a glass of wine before you get in the car as a passenger, just to calm yourself down.”

[From People]

US has quotes from Jennie too. She said she feels bad for her 90210 costar, Tori Spelling, because Tori has five kids who are just entering into the teen years. Jennie said “there’s a lot in store for her.” That sounds ominous! I only have one son who is 16, and while we have our typical issues I’m really grateful for him and how he’s grown as a person. However I know I gave my mom hell when I was a teenager, and I’ve heard that girls are harder at that age than boys. I think my mom wishes I had a daughter so I could know her pain.

I could definitely relate to Jennie getting stressed out trying to teach her kids to drive. Although my son has his license now I’m still nervous at the thought of him driving on his own! We just got him a used car too. I would not recommend buying a car now unless you really need one. There’s a new car shortage due to production line issues and due to the market that extends to used cars too.

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22 Responses to “Jennie Garth on raising teenagers: ‘it’s definitely not for the faint of heart’”

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  1. Nikki* says:

    Raising teens is NOT for the faint of heart. After working throughout my kids’ lives, I found I needed to curtail some of my evening work when I had 3 teenagers, because I felt I needed to be “on top of things” and available. I hadn’t spent all those years parenting just to see it all go down the drain during their high school years. Parenting teens helped me grow a LOT as a person, because I was a “people pleaser” until every day for several years straight, someone HATED MY GUTS. They are all nice adults now, but my word….

    • Jayna says:

      As one of my siblings said, during the children’s younger years you receive all of this unconditional love and affection from your little ones, and then they all hit their teens (close in time for my sibling) and it’s all me, me, me, and they suck the life out of you, and not much love given in return except when they want something. LOL Well, the third child was still really affectionate when they had fights and still pretty bonded. Such a good young girl. She couldn’t stand for mom to be mad at her. Luckily, none of the children ever got into trouble, not bad kids, just that me, me, me stage and the two boys were mouthy at times. Doors slammed, self-absorbed. My sibling felt very unappreciated more often than not for a few years when the two boys were teens (very close in age). It was a trying period. All turned out amazing, though, and great young adults.

      • ReginaGeorge says:

        Oh yes! They go from following you everywhere, not even leaving you alone to use the bathroom, holding your hand everywhere you go and putting you on a pedestal as the greatest, coolest role model in their lives, to then being totally embarrassed and annoyed by your mere presence in a room with their friends, or even in the same room while they are on the phone, closing the bedroom door and wanting to be alone, and now wanting to be more like and influenced by whatever cool celebrity/social media star, instead of your uncool self. LOL

  2. Seraphina says:

    No it is not. But some of us will experience taking care of parents. Now that is a whole different level of unknown.

    • Susan says:

      Omg @Seraphina it’s like you are reading my soul. My kids are occasionally challenging but my octogenarian parents have given me so much anxiety and stress. It’s the WORST. To me, now, this is the danger of people like George Clooney having kids at 60. If I were any less mature (god forbid my twenty something or even thirty something self had to handle this!?) I’d have lost my mind.

    • Alexandria says:

      So true. I live with my single mother-in-law. Not easy. And she’s a different race. That’s partly why I decided not to have kids.

    • Seraphina says:

      My friend and I laugh because, well either laugh or cry, but at least with kids you can tell them to be quiet and go to their rooms and maybe even punish them (do we dare say that in this day and age??). But with parents, it is so difficult trying to do what is best for them and the roles become reversed. It is on a WHOLE different level. And my friend and I choose to laugh rather than cry. Granted it’s over drinks.

      • Susan says:

        I feel you Seraphina. the insults my dying father threw at me are harsher than anything a sassy teenager could say. cheugy? Hahaha

    • liz says:

      Or will be doing both at the same time. Kiddo turns 17 tomorrow (I love that child, but junior year of high school during a pandemic just might kill me). And sitting on my dinner table are my mother’s tax returns.

      Monthly cocktails over zoom with my college roommates (who are all in basically the same place I am) is what is saving my sanity.

  3. LillyfromLillooet says:

    Aw, I just have always loved Jennie.

  4. Susan says:

    I would imagine raising kids in the shadows of Hollywood and fame (both parents are wealthy and famous) makes it even harder.

  5. Astrid says:

    I disagree. I have four. The youngest turned 19 today. I hated the baby years when they would cry for no apparent reason. I finally felt like I bonded with them during the teenage years.

  6. ReginaGeorge says:

    Raising my teenage daughter as a single mom was some of the truly worst years of my life. There was constant rebellion, constant arguing, days she would break curfew for hours and disappear without a phone call, (one time overnight) and physically want to fight me if I would attempt to take the cell phone away as punishment, lots of door slamming and breaking of objects, and I think I aged 20 years in that span of time. It was not fun or easy, and I constantly thought to myself how much easier life would have been if I didn’t have any kids at all, because parenting a teen was the opposite of fulfilling and satisfying.

    And mine had some serious daddy issues so it was just her and I at home and I got the brunt of all of her hurt and anger and disrespect. I remember my own depression and anxiety and lots of tears. Lots of stress from being late or missing work altogether trying to keep up and be present in her life and at school, even if she felt mom was being annoying and “all in her business” because she didn’t want me checking up on her or following up with her teachers, monitoring her friends (some of whom weren’t great influences). I don’t miss those years at ALL.

    But she finally calmed down and is doing well and out on her own. Phew. I raise a glass to any parent trying to successfully raise a teenager, and I don’t judge them too harshly.

    • purple prankster says:

      wow, but u made through, congratulations

    • Taenerys says:

      Man, congratulations!
      I’m 35 and I have an adopted 16 year old (Got her when she was 12) and I’m completely happy to hear there’s light at the end of this crazy tunnel. We had a few great years but the last 2 years man. Sometimes I feel like an alien spirit has taken over her and trying to torture me and it’s so stressful and not fun but I am going to hold on to your positive outcome and hope and pray that we have the same outcome. Sending you hugs!

      • ReginaGeorge says:

        @Taenerys

        As long as you are attentive and stay involved (even when they push you away) eventually they will mature and see it was for their own good and done out of love and concern. My daughter was trying to do grown ass women things at 14 and hating me for attempting to curtail that age inappropriate behavior, and now as a 21 year old she tells me she understands how right I was and how insufferable and defiant she was being. So hugs and good vibes to you that yours will eventually mature, and those lessons and values you are attempting to instill now will stick and flourish once those frontal lobes start to grow in more.

    • shanaynay says:

      @ReginaGeorge:
      I was one of the children you are talking about to my mother. I was a horrible, and took a lot of things out on my mother. We had a serious love hate relationship. As my mother got older, and sicker, she had three heart attacks and four strokes, I told her that I apologize for everything, and that the slate was clean. That certainly made my mother feel better. It sounds weird to say, but I actually saw the weight lifted from her shoulders.
      My mother has since passed away, and I miss her terribly. I still feel awful for the way I treated her, and I wish I could take it back. I wish I still had her here with me, so I could apologize once more to her.

  7. Michelle says:

    I have often felt that raising babies and toddlers is very physically challenging (little sleep, lifting, following every move so they don’t fall, etc.), and raising teenagers is very emotionally challenging (they’re becoming their own people, they’re rebelling, how much do you let go, etc.).

  8. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I’m not so sure there’s a stage that IS for the fainted heart lol.

  9. Schmootc says:

    I’m the middle of three girls and I think I was probably the hardest of the three of us to raise. I’m surprised my parents didn’t shove me off the nearest bridge when I was a teenager, honestly.

  10. iconoclast59 says:

    I don’t know that teen girls are necessarily more difficult than boys. It’s just that you worry about them more, because if things go off the rails, the consequences can be so much worse. Girls are more likely than boys to be sexually assaulted and suffer emotional trauma. Not that it never happens to boys; it’s just that it happens less frequently. Same thing with pregnancy. While boys are being held more accountable if they get a girl pregnant, again, it’s not quite as impactful as BEING pregnant and having to line up an abortion or carry it to term. So it’s especially difficult and stressful when you see your teen daughter engaging in stupid, risky behavior.