No matter how hard you try to be the chill parent, teenagers somehow always find something to be mortified about—and they’ll let you know pretty quickly.
Chip Leighton, 52, shared the comical text messages parents had received from their teens lately, including “Don’t say croissant in public” and “When my friends come over, don’t do anything weird like bake cookies.”
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The reel, which has been viewed over 2.5 million times, is part of Leighton’s popular series (@the_leighton_show) and current Instagram trend where parents share screenshots of teenage text messages, often highlighting their kids’ unique perspectives and quirks.
Liudmila Chernetska
“I started by posting my own family’s texts and quotes, but it turns out most families have lots in common, and I receive a lot of comments like, ‘Wait a minute, did you steal my phone? Because these look like my kids’ texts!'” Leighton told Newsweek.
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“The reaction on social media has been pretty wild,” he added.
Other text messages that parents had received included “Can you tell dad to stop using wink emojis in his texts” and “Don’t check your blind spot when my friends are in the back seat.”
Parents from around the world commented on Leighton’s reel with some of the things their kids have said to them.
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One Instagram user shared that after dropping her daughter off at a birthday party, she rolled down her window to say “Happy birthday” to the girl. “My teen explained with great dismay that I should never wish her friends a happy birthday through a window.”
Another said: “My 15-year-old asked me today if you can still get a tan when it’s windy. (It was 80 degrees and sunny today).”
“My newly minted 18yo filling out a medical form: ‘am I my own guardian?'” said another.
Leighton, who started his career in content creation sharing the funny and crazy things his kids said on social media, told Newsweek his kids mostly give him an eye roll or shake their heads at him when he’s recognized in public.
“When I quit my corporate job last year, my daughter started affectionately calling me the ‘unemployed middle aged TikToker,'” he joked.
After some suggestions from followers that he should write a book, What Time is Noon? was published in November 2024. It’s a collection of hilarious texts from teenagers, as well as “stories from my family and a bunch of other features,” Leighton said.
In response to the “Don’t check your blind spot when my friends are in the back seat” message, Leighton captioned the reel: They call it a blind spot for a reason.
Do you have a family-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.