Last updated on July 19, 2020
Have you ever judge someone…okay let me rephrase that, have you judged or gossip about someone this week? I have….yep, been there done that. Until a couple years ago I didn’t realize how much of a habit it had become when my partner told me bluntly ‘I don’t talk about other people, so please stop it’, okay that was a good wake up call for me. It took a while and now I’m much more conscious when I hear others do it or when I start thinking about it because it inately turns me off. I’m not sharing this to say I’m perfect but that until we notice it then it will spill into our circle of friends and especially with our kids. Think about it, and you’ve heard it said probably millions of time by now but children latch on and model every little thing we do and say….have you said a F-bomb recently just to hear you child repeat it later in the day….yep, also guilty of that one.
Were You Misinformed?
In this episode of Citrus Love-Keeping Motherhood Inpired Podcast, former sixteen year old teen mom Whitney Ballard says that the media and society needs to change the conversation surrounding teen moms as these girls do not follow a specific archetype of behavior and values. So the point here is that you can’t book a book (or in this case a teen mom) by the fact that she got pregnant still in high school. You bet that this episode is a great way to learn how we cannot judge others values based on the finality (having a child) when their journey can be utterly different to what you might have imagined.
Giving The Support Mothers Need To Thrive
So if you’re a mom reading this then you obviously know deep down that have people you can count on to support you and give you an extra hand or hours can be absolutely life changing and give you a mental boost of energy as needed. Hello helpful grandparents, daycares, sitters and other helpers… So for a teen mom it’s also monumental having access to a good support sytem to help them transition into motherhood regardless of their age. Whitney shares how some of her teachers gave her that support during her last year of high school.
From Teen Mom to Masters Degree
Having a child will not stop you from getting where you want to go, BUT it will take you longer than expected and there will be more challenges to overcome. Whitney is all about keeping things in motion even if you have a baby that was unplanned. She shares how you are stronger than you give yourself credit for and to lean into that for your newborn. There is no sugar coating in this conversation. Through the fears and the doubts teen moms are not portrayed in the best light, so hoping that this episode will help you parent and open your hearts to judging a little less about how others are living and speaking in that same way to our growing kids.
Listen To The Episode!
Apple Podcasts (leave a review here) / Spotify / Soundcloud / Stitcher
What You’ll Learn In This Episode:
0-6:25 Intro
7:10 Being misinformed about teen moms
8:15 Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, who is Whitney Ballard
10:30 Growing up in a Christian community
11:20 How her parents reacted about her teen pregnancy?
13:15 The decision process and her available options for teen moms
16:10 Comments from bystanders in her community
18:30 What comments made her feel good
19:40 A quote from a popsugar article
20:15 What was the most exciting about this experience?
20:45 The hardest part of being pregnant
22:00 How she managed her pregnancy, the birth and her last year of high school
24:00 The support she received from her parents
24:40 Making a new life plan
26:45 Daycare option while she studied
27:15 What happened…. how she got pregnant
28:45 Reading an excerpt from her blog post
29:30 Going to college as a new mom
31:20 Her moments of serenity through her journey
32:00 Her life as a railroad wife
33:00 Being an advocate for teen moms today
35:35 What she will tell her kids about having sex as a teenager
36:35 Why her parents didn’t have the ‘sex talk’ with her?
37:20 Her BEST advice for teenagers, pregnant teens and parents.
39:05 How you can connect with Whitney Ballard
39:40 The LAST question
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