Raising toddlers is difficult – but it’s a whole different ballgame when it comes to teens.
With little children, the biggest problem you’ll face is a minor injury, and maybe the occasional food-related tantrum.
But when children become teenagers, they’re faced with the much more difficult-to-handle situations: heartbreak, betrayal, stress, and mental health issues.
As a parent, all you can do is be there for your son or daughter.
It’s difficult to accept that you can’t resolve the issue as quickly as giving them a cuddle and a kiss, then distracting them with something on the TV, like you could when they were young.
But acknowledging their pain and helping them to work through it, no matter how long it takes, is something that they’ll appreciate more than you could imagine.
One dad knows all about the pain of heartbreak after his devastated daughter broke up with her boyfriend.
Jewell Richins is the proud dad of seven children, and has become relatively famous online after sharing photos and videos of his family life.
Recently, Jewell’s videos, featuring his daughters singing in his car, have started catching the attention of viewers all over the world.
Many of the songs sung by the girls are upbeat and lively, but not this one.
Jewell’s eldest daughter, who usually sits in the front passenger seat of his car, had broken up with her boyfriend, and was struggling to sing along to the song that was playing.
As the video opens, Jewell can be heard reassuring his daughter that she can do it, saying,
“Because people will relate to it, so just let your feelings flow. If you’re going to cry ’cause you’re sad, then cry.”
Jewell’s daughter replies that she knows, but she just can’t sing when her throat is tight.
She’s clearly upset, and looks as if she has just been crying.
Emotion isn’t something that all of us are good at handling, and as Jewell’s daughter stares out of the window, she whispers that she’s “so embarrassed”.
Luckily, her dad is here to help her see that it’s important to let out your emotions, and that bottling them up won’t do any good.
What probably isn’t helping the teen’s situation is her choice of song – Lady Gaga’s “I’ll Never Love Again”.
As a piano karaoke version of the song kicks in, it takes Jewell’s daughter a while to pull herself together.
Being the doting dad that he clearly is, Jewell has tears in his eyes as he watches his daughter try to pull through her sadness.
Eventually, after a reassuring pep talk from her younger sister in the back seat, the teen starts to sing.
She has a beautiful voice, though she has to stop and clear her throat before repeating herself.
While her dad wipes away his tears, in the back seat, the girl’s sister casually chews on a straw, typical younger sister style.
After making it through a few verses, the teen is too distraught to carry on.
But what’s important is that her dad is so clearly there for her, and you can tell by his face that he feels her pain with her.
The video was released earlier this month, and already has more than 1 million views. In the comments, people wrote how lucky the teen is to have a dad like Jewell.
It’s certainly true – Jewell is there fighting with her and hurting with her, and he’ll be there to heal with her and help build her back up again too.
