All tween and teen moms will relate to this mom’s video about ‘summer guilt’

If you have kids of just about any age, you probably already know feelings of summer mom guilt very well. You know, when you wonder if you’re doing enough to make their summer fun and magical? And especially now, in the digital age, when we can all see influencers and family vloggers jetsetting and having all kinds of fun adventures. When you compare yourself to that kind of lifestyle, it becomes almost impossible not to feel like you’re falling short.

One mom is now going viral for her video where she talks about how these are feelings that don’t let up as your kids get older. Mom Cyndy, whose kids are starting to transition into their tween years, posted on TikTok to bring up some pretty valid and relatable points about this topic.

@cyndygdub My kids are 14 and under and the transition from little kids to big kids can be hard on us parents #fyp #motherhood #teens #parenthood #summer #momguilt #preteens #kids ♬ Backsound Puisi – Audiolist Productions

“You know what’s not talked about enough? The guilt that comes when you have teens and preteens during the summer,” she began in her video, which now has thousands of comments and views. “You’re home with them, but they’re too old to go to a playground every day. They don’t really want to go to a pool every day. They will hang out with their friends sometimes, but it’s like, when they were younger, there was so much you could do with them — even just playing in the backyard. Your days could just be filled with playing. And now, they just want to be in their rooms.”

Any mom of a child of that age can relate. That tween and teen ennui starts to set in, and as much as you still want to hang out with your kid, they never seem to want to do anything.

“When I ask them, ‘Do you want to go bowling? Do you want to go see a movie?’ It’s just, we’re good,” Cyndy continued.

She added, “I still have that constant guilt that I’m not doing enough, that their summers are wasted — that we should be doing more. We should be traveling, we should be doing the things that it’s not really possible to do! But, you know, we look on social media and we see other people on these trips and with their younger kids doing stuff and you think, ‘What more could I be doing right now that would give my kids a good summer?'”

At the end of her video, she made the very important point that it isn’t her kids or her partner making her feel this way — it’s herself.

“Every day I feel like is a constant guilt trip,” she said. “No one is giving it to me. No one is giving me a guilt trip except myself. It’s my own anxiety. It’s my own shame and guilt as a mother. Does anybody else feel this way? It’s really hard for me this year.”

In the comments, other parents confirmed that yes, other people definitely feel this way.

“Most relatable post ever. It’s like we are frittering away priceless time but they don’t want to do anything!!” one commenter wrote.

Another added, “Yes!! But you also can’t spend money every day!!! That’s the guilt I have.”

One commenter dropped this food for thought: “It might not be as much guilt as it is grief.”

And that may be hitting the nail on the head — because moms certainly do grieve as their babies grow up.