And I say this as a fully grown woman with WiFi, a smartphone, adult money, and access to online parenting advice at 2 AM.
Some days I still feel like a teen mom mentally.
Like, excuse me… you people trusted ME with somebody’s life?
Because one minute I’m giving responsible adult answers, and the next minute I’m hiding in the bathroom eating snacks in silence so I don’t have to share.
Motherhood is beautiful, yes.
But it is also hard, emotional, draining, confusing, and deeply humbling.
Which then made me think…
If I, a grown woman sometimes feel overwhelmed by motherhood… what about an actual 15-year-old?
Or a 16-year-old girl suddenly expected to become somebody’s wife and somebody’s mother?
Because, be serious for a second.
At 15, most girls are still figuring out algebra, friendships, acne, crushes, and whether they even like themselves yet.
Suddenly society wants to hand them a husband, a baby, and lifelong responsibilities like it’s a group assignment they volunteered for.
Absolutely not.
Sometimes people talk about child marriage so casually too.
“She’s mature for her age.”
No. She was forced to grow up early.
There’s a difference.
Trauma can look like maturity from a distance.
And honestly, adulthood itself is already a scam half the time.
Bills.
Stress.
Back pain.
Trying to decide what to cook every single day until the end of time.
Now imagine adding marriage and motherhood to a child on top of that?
Even grown adults are out here whispering.
“I just need a break.”
“I’m tired.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I hope this child survives my parenting.”
So why do we act like little girls can magically handle all that pressure better?
And please, I know somebody somewhere will say...
“But our grandmothers married young.”
Yes… and many of them were also exhausted, silenced, overworked, and robbed of choices. We just romanticise their survival because they endured it quietly.
Surviving is not the same thing as thriving.
A girl child deserves more than survival.
She deserves time. Time to grow. Time to dream.
Time to make mistakes that don’t involve raising another human being before her own brain is fully developed.
Because motherhood should be a choice made with readiness, not a burden forced onto girls still trying to understand life themselves.
Honestly, this Mother’s Day just confirmed something for me,
If motherhood sometimes makes grown women cry in parked cars and hide in bathrooms for peace…
Then surely we can all agree a child should not be pushed into it early.
