"Kids Raising Kids" (feat. YouTube Stars Jennica & Annica)
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I am really excited about today because we're doing something different, but we've got a mother-daughter duo on, Jennica and Annika. Y'all, I always mess up their names. You know, you laugh all the time. So...

First off, the name thing. Yes. Okay, so start me off with that. Yeah, okay. So I did have her when I was 14. So let's just start off by saying thank goodness her name's not like Rainbow Sprinkles or something because it could have been anything. Wait, so...

I don't know why I thought you were maybe a little older than that. No, I was 14. Yeah. It was the summer before I started high school. And I did want a name that started with an A and I loved my name, but my mom actually suggested, she said, I heard the name Annika. What do you think about that? And I was like, no,

no mom, that literally rhymes with my name. Like that's ridiculous. I'm not going to do that. No. And I kept going because I wanted her name to be AJ. That's what I wanted to call her. Oh, I love that. And so I, which also like, it was kind of inspo from Allie and AJ, a Disney show at the end of the day.

A little bit of 10. Isn't that crazy? Like you're still watching Nickelodeon. Yeah. And like you're having a kid. Yeah. Yeah. And then I continued to watch it because I had her watching it for so long. So like in college, I never watched Grey's Anatomy when everybody else was. I had to watch iCarly, which I loved. It was fun. It was fun. It was great. So I came back to Anakin. I was like, you know what? Lorelei Gilmore said it best. Men name their sons after themselves all the time. Oh.

Why can't I? Why can't I? Stop. That's amazing. Okay, so 14. Yeah, 14. That is crazy. So what do you think led to that? Um... I just had to give a question. No, no, no, no, no. It was very, very, very much... Well, obviously we know it led to it. Yes. But...

I mean, I really was cheerleader. I was all A student. I was in all the honors classes. I was involved in everything I could in school. I was going to church three times a week. I was just like a parent's dream kid. Like I was really, really just a good kid, a teacher's pet all around.

Um, but I lived in a small town in the South. And so I had heavy, you know, abstinence, purity, culture, learning. Yeah. And again, I was a smart kid. I think that if I would have known a little bit more, I would have maybe made different decisions. I mean, this is this is what I was supposed to this is what was supposed to be my story and what was supposed to happen to me for sure. But I mean, I remember going to like true love weights camps and things and just being like, oh,

Oh, well, like, it's fine. Because my brain just at that time did not understand the difference in, oh, my mom says not to do this, but she also says not to do this. And like, oh, yeah, I'll maybe get in trouble if I get caught. But yeah, the severity and like a lifelong...

Yeah. Child out of it. Never, never crossed my mind. Like it just wasn't even a possibility. So what's the first time you had sex? Like when you got pregnant? No, her dad and I were very much like the little, just, I mean, he played all three sports in school. He was already in high school and I was in eighth grade. And so he was only a year older than me, but you know, he's in a locker room with senior boys that are talking about other things and it just trickles down. And then you,

you know, get talked into things. It was definitely like consensual or anything, but that's just what I thought was obviously very quickly. I realized that this is not correct. Yeah. Um, it was just a hard lesson learned fast, but none of my friends got pregnant though. I was like, guys, no, we're not doing this again. Yeah. So when you got pregnant, what was your initial reaction? Well, that I'm not pregnant.

I mean, my mom and my doctor and everybody around me was, it was a full baby inside. And I was like, no, I've never had sex. Mom, sorry. I don't know what you're talking about. And she's like, I have two positive pregnancy tests. And I go like, what's going on? And I'm like, because also I was in denial on my own. Like I genuinely did not think I'm doing everything right as a kid. Like I don't, I'm doing everything I should be doing. Like I'm very, I'm a good kid. Like this isn't going to happen to me. I'm,

And it did. Yeah. So I guess you weren't on birth control. No. You didn't? Because, I mean, and I wouldn't have even approached my mom about a conversation, I don't think, because it was so. I don't know if that age you actually know, like, what. I mean, I didn't tell my best friend. I don't know if you know what leads to getting pregnant at that age. Yeah. Like, okay, you talk about sex, but, like, do you actually know? No. Like. Yeah. I didn't know what was going on down there. Like, I didn't know what was going on.

I was just, you know, I feel like going through the motions and, you know, it wasn't the first time we, we, it wasn't like, Oh, we did it a lot or anything. I mean, we didn't have access to lots of places. We were at the end of the day.

Do you know what time it was when you got pregnant? No, because it was so long. I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was six months along. And so by that point, I was like, I don't even know. Six months? She was still doing tanning beds every week, cheerleading, twisting her body all around. Meanwhile, I'm in there like, hey, let's stop bouncing. I'm like, sorry. So she's been doing back handsprings, we like to say, since before she was born because I didn't know until I was six months. Yeah.

I just had no symptoms. My body was so young and I was so athletic. And too, you probably thought this is just your body changing. My body kind of like mimicked a spotting type thing. And so I just, and I never really had heavy periods. And so nothing was ever, nothing changed for me. I didn't gain weight. Okay. So by the time you were 15, I already had a kid. You already had a kid.

I had a kid before I had a car. Like my first crib was an actual crib. My God. That's insane. You couldn't even drive. No. If something happened to her, I couldn't even take her to the emergency. I did have to get my, I got my hardship license when I was 15, but for a few months, I mean, once my like mom went back to school and I did, my mom went back to work and I went to school. Like there was a few weeks that we were there by ourselves. And I was like, if something happens to this baby right now, like I'd have to just call an ambulance. I can't get her. I can't take her anywhere. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. So what was that process? So obviously you had a kid. Was her dad, was her dad involved at that time? Like who helped to raise? I mean, it was a village. It's always been a village. I have 100 aunts. Yeah. 100. And they truly all are my aunt.

That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I say I'm a single mom, but it's not ever been just me raising her. We have. It takes a village. You know, pastor. I'm just kidding. I used to literally, especially during like finals weeks and stuff, colleges would have like different schedules all of a sudden. I would just drop her off at the sorority dorms and be like, who can watch? Who can watch her from 11, 15 to 20? And then we'd get schedules for who could just sit and watch. No. He was so fun. He could sit and watch movies with AJ. But she was at that age, though.

Whereas I feel like when I was in high school, I did have my parents help. Her dad was still in the same town. We all kind of were still there. And so she did get to see everyone.

She was involved with all of us. She came to all of my games. I still cheered and things. And so she was just... And my youngest brother is only five years older than her. So it was like my brother. We were just a family of four almost. That's crazy. It almost looks like I have one picture from Christmas cards one year where I have dark brown hair and my sister, brother, and Annika all have blonde hair. And it's like, I don't even look like part of this family. It looks like those three are siblings. Stop. So she's always been really close with my siblings. Yeah.

My mom obviously made it possible for us to be able to live in her home and continue school until I could move to college. Wow. And yeah, so it's taken all of us. So how did you deal, obviously, with being in a small town? The backlash and the talk. It was rough.

Because you're not the only one that's had to go through this. And that's what I think I hope people listen. I hear when they listen to this is like, hey, I felt what you felt. Right. I mean, I would have people come up to me. I didn't leave my house much once I started showing Trulia.

The summer came in like May and I had her in the middle of June. So that last like month where I was actually really showing, like I left my house truly maybe once or twice. And I had a woman come up to me in Walmart and asked me if I was that homecoming queen from the paper that was pregnant. And I'm like, are you serious?

You're like in your 50s and you're concerned about me. I have to go home. And it was hard being in a small town. But that just fueled me to know that I couldn't raise her there. She was always going to be like, I mean, even when she's when we're back there, people will stare at her like that's that's Jenica's kid. You know, it's like the kid that was. No. So.

I just knew I wanted to get out. Just truly everyone knew. Like, think about a roomer in your high school. It's like... Squeezing everything you want to do into one vacation can make even the most experienced travelers question their abilities. But when you travel with Amex Platinum and get room upgrades when available at fine hotels and resorts booked through Amex Travel, plus Resi Priority Notify for those hard-to-get tables, and Amex card members can even access on-site experiences at select events, you realize that you've already done everything you planned to do. That's

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I know that it was hard on my mom because you go from, cause then they're like, Oh, she didn't raise her kids. She didn't, you know, I can only imagine how my mom used to probably go to our favorite restaurant square 40 after church with all three of us. And she'd be so proud of her children at this restaurant where everybody sees. And it's like, now we would go to that same restaurant and, um,

You could just tell the tables were looking at us differently and things. So it did not only affect me. I mean, my sister was made fun of author high school for it. It was a trickle down. So it's just like we just had to get out. So when did you get out? As soon as the day I turned 18. Like, I mean, I moved to my I turned 18 in January and I moved 45 minutes away to the town I was going to go to college in.

I went ahead and moved and then I drove 45 minutes to high school that last semester every day and lived in Alabama at this point and drove back to Tennessee for high school every day because I just had to get out. And then once I I feel like once I got to that next chapter of life in Florence with her, I was going to be going to college and I was there to make a better future for us. And I was kind of went in.

with my kind of fist up ready to be like, no, I am a good mom. I'm here to prove myself to all of the other parents, the teachers, my friends. And it was not like that at all. Like everybody. And since then, it's never been like that. So everybody's been so accepting. I feel like since. That's amazing. So what's the exact age difference between y'all? 14 years. 14 years and six months.

- No way. - So you grew up together? - I always say I've been through high school twice, I've been through college twice, I have two sets of friends, different ages of everything. - I mean, she's just as close. There'll be times where I'm like, "Who are you on the phone with?" And she's like, "Maddie." And I'm like, "That's my best friend." Like, what do you do? - Talking to her, you know? - My best friend too?

That's amazing. Yeah, I mean, she grew up going to college parties with us. She's been to tailgates. She's been to, she's been to bachelorette parties. I've seen it all. She's seen it all with us. And, you know. And that's the hard part because you and I were kind of talking before we came on about, like, me and Chloe right now. Yeah. And, like, there's so many times where I feel guilt for, like, her seeing certain things and not, like, seeing anything. Yeah.

like, you know, me being on a dating app. They're too young to say, yeah. Like, me being on a dating app or me talking to a guy or me and, like, she's there. Yeah. Like, it's, we have no choice. I feel like it's really been a double, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, it's really been a double-edged sword for Annika because she's grown up with people 15 years older than her her entire life. She's been surrounded by girls. I mean, when she was

seven in college and we're talking about boys and forget him. By the time she got to high school and then her friends were having those conversations, she was like, that's what y'all are concerned about? Like that's, yeah. Seriously. I'm like, by the time her friends start brunching, she's going to be like, I have been to so many brunches. I'm done. I just want to lay at home. I feel like I really have. I don't know. It's just,

She has struggled in some points with people her age because she's just always been around. She's grown up really fast. And I think she did used to get worried about me seeing her dating and all that. But it's so fun. Every moment of it is so fun. I don't think back of the dorm rooms. You did not think that me dating is fun. Yes, I did. You want me to go on a date again?

- Not now. - No, why? - Because I know she doesn't want to. - She doesn't want to. - She does. You think she wants to be at home with you every night, no? - Yes. - Yeah, dude. - No.

She is not one of them. There are times where she's like, there's times where she's like, I would love to have someone to share this with. I used to date, I really, I mean, she's, it's so hilarious. But now we get to talk about her boyfriend. She's my every boyfriend I've ever had. Yeah. So now we get to talk about him and be like, remember him, remember him when he did this? Yeah. And that's the fun part of it now. And looking back on all the going to the sorority houses, that's so fun. And going to the tailgates, so fun. I mean, there's not a moment of it where I'm like, that was, yeah.

And the whole time I was questioning everything I was doing. You know, I was like, this is the worst. You're not having fun? No. Because as much, now she looks at it, she's like, oh my God, it was so much fun. But you in the moment were like, oh my God, I'm being a terrible mother. I mean, there was one tailgate where she's making a plate of fruit. And I'm like, sweet angel, look at her having so much fun. We're all having, and I see this girl come out of nowhere and slap the plate out of her hand. And I'm like, well, now I'm going to have to go to a wedding.

hurt this girl. And she's like, I'm so sorry I did that, but that fruit has been soaking in vodka. Thank you, no thank you, thank you. So I'm like, oh, and I put my daughter in this situation. But it's like, this could happen at any age. Like parents make mistakes at every age. It doesn't, if anything, our relationship, I've been more open, like, hey, I don't really know what the best thing for me to do is in this situation. Let me think on it a couple of days and then we'll come back and have a conversation.

to learn how to deal with you talking to me like you just did. Yeah. Something like that. So there's been times where I've just known always not to be too proud to ask for help. Like, you know. That's a big thing. Yeah. I just didn't have an option. Like, I knew from day one I cannot do this by myself. And so I feel like that did give me the ability to always, always be like, I need help with Annika or hey, I don't know what I'm doing here. See, that's what I struggle with. Yeah. I don't. And I think just because I get so afraid that, like,

they're not going to get what I would give them. You know what I mean? Like that I can't ask and to it's, if I ask for help, then people are just going to talk shit about me behind my back that I'm not doing what I should be doing. Teen moms can never do anything right. It does not matter. I mean, she is going to have to like win the Nobel peace prize one day for me to be like, see, it was okay. You know, it's just people were always questioned and I feel like you'll probably get this. People will always question, um,

and think that you didn't make the right decision. - But it ends up being so much fun. - It does, I mean, it ends up being so much fun. - Well see, it's like you talk about the guys and stuff, it's funny because like Chloe and I will, 'cause she's there. So it's like if you see me talking to this person or you see me talking to this person, but then she'll just be like, "Are we done with him?" - Yeah, yeah. - And she'll be like-- - Who hasn't? - She tells me before. - Yeah, she'll be like, "I think you should be with this person, "I think you should be with that person."

what are you doing? Like, it's so funny. And I'm like, girl, we're figuring it out. And then we were like, we were just filming and Chloe was talking about all these boys that she liked. And she goes, I get it from my sister. I'm like, okay,

But she should know that she can kind of, you know, before she gets in a relationship. Exactly. See who she actually likes. Yeah, well, I got her phone yesterday and I saw her send like a kissy picture to someone and I go, no, ma'am. I said, what did I tell you? We are not texting boys on your phone. This is a no. Yeah. Does she have Snapchat? No. I wouldn't. We didn't do that until, which Snapchat still, when she was younger, was not as... We didn't have a desire for it. Yeah, they wasn't really... I used to...

I used to like have to beg her to go get your phone and text me back for like a while. And then of course it changes in one second. And I'm like, I wish she would look at me for one second and set it up.

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- Okay, so now you guys, so you have a YouTube channel. - We do. - Okay, what is it? - Jennica and Annika. - Okay, and how did that start? - Really hard, honestly.

- I did grow up in the Jake Paul era, the Team 10, all that kind of-- - They weren't watching Disney Channel anymore. - No, we were watching, these vlogs came out every day, we had something to watch every day. There were a million of them, that's what we watched. We watched YouTubers. So obviously at any girl of that age to be like, "I'm gonna start a YouTube channel, I'm gonna do it." So I used to just film things on my phone and then I feel like you were like,

This could be something fun for us to do. We watch things together. I mean, whatever. There's two people in our house all the time. So, like, we're going to have a shared space. And so I ended up watching. And I liked to always, like I just mentioned, watch Anik Harley. Like, I like to watch what she's watching, not only to spend time, but doing my parent due diligence to make sure that it's not, you know. I had to shut Jake Paul off after a few years. I'm just kidding.

But no. And so I was watching. And then as she says, like, I want to make a YouTube channel. It's just my, my marketing brain will start turning. And I'm like, and I always have wanted to be in front of a camera. I love a camera. See, I love that. I love it. No. And so I was just like, this would be fun. And in the first video, one of the first videos we ever uploaded, I was like, whether these become like home videos for us to watch back on, like, it is so fun. And the first time, actually, the other day we did something and we,

we have it on film from a couple years ago. And it's like, we're now getting to look back on these memories. And I'm just so thankful that we have one. Even from her being in college, she was always the one in the bars with the camera. If you wanted the picture, she was the one that had it. She was always the one with the camera. So it just also made sense for us to do this. And then we did a video...

We did a video during quarantine of telling our story and telling how she found out she was pregnant the day that she gave birth, all that. And it just blew up. It went mega viral. But again, it was with her. I feel like I had such like a Gen Z insider skin because she found one of her favorite YouTubers at the time.

by that youtuber was posting little fun clips on tick tock and tick tock's algorithm is so much better than anything else that that's how annika found this girl and then she's watching a million videos of her and she's now i'm like well i think we could maybe put some clips over there and i

I put a 60 second clip of our video. We had 777 subscribers and I put the clip on TikTok and I woke up the next morning and there was like 3 million views. We already had like over 10,000 subscribers. And it just, yeah. Once YouTube's algorithm was like, why are all these people coming from this app over here? Then YouTube's algorithm picked it up. And it just, it's, we still get, that's one of our best videos still every month. Yeah.

Wow, that's amazing. And then people just loved us and kept following along. Yeah. So what do you do for your videos? Like, what kind of content do you film? We do all kinds of vlogs. People just love to see what we do together because we have such a unique relationship that whatever we do, it's funny and it's going to be entertaining. It's kind of like a modern day Gilmore Girls. So like each maybe vlog is like an episode of the Gilmore Girls, you know, so we're just...

Like lifestyle. Yeah. I have it all together. She's just following along. Like the time of Lori and I'm like, I don't know what's going on or where we even are. And she's like, we're going, we're doing this. We have to be there this time. Be ready at this time. We're going to leave it this time. That's amazing. So you really are like, I mean, you just, you've grown, like I said, you've grown up together. I think that also though, there's a very high mutual respect that I don't think a lot of

parents do give their kids enough respect for because so many people look at me and they're like, oh my God, I don't know how you did it. Like this is, you have such a crazy story. Like you were 14, you did all this, this. At the end of the day, like her parents were 14 and 15 when she was born. Like that's tough. She's seen her parents make mistakes. She's seen her parents grow up. She's seen her parents, you know, we are really truly. So I've had to be like

just very truthful. And sometimes I'm like, she might know a little bit better here or I try to always give her an input in our home, but she knows at the end of the day that I, her respect does have to be a little bit more. And, but I, I give her respect back. No, no, go. I definitely think that growing up with younger parents, it has such perks and it has so many good things. Wow. Obviously. Well, let's not, I mean, anytime we're talking about teen pregnancy, anything people are like, Oh, well,

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- I shared with friend groups, I saw how her forever friends, 'cause she found her forever friends once I could see what those meant. So I didn't have to really go through as much of finding my friends 'cause I knew how friends should treat me. So like growing up seeing how you should be treated definitely helped how my personality built. - Well you're not romanticizing teen pregnancy, but what you're saying is you saw when a really crappy situation happened. - And learned from it.

How you can make the best of it. And how you knew, like, really people's true colors and how they treat you versus how they don't. And...

I think, too, what you were talking about with the respect aspect of things, I think I've seen that now with my, and I think part of it, too, is growing up in the South. Oh, for sure. Everyone has their roles. A woman, a man, a child, there is a role. And not that my parents didn't respect me. It's just that's not what it was. It's not what it was. It's like you are, I'm the parent. I'm the parent. You will respect me. Period. Period.

now I've definitely hit that point with my parents is because our situation, everything that's happening, the amount of respect that I think they have for me now, it's so crazy. It is more of that like friend role of like best friends. And like, I respect you and I, because they've seen the crap that I've had to deal with or go through or whatever it may be. Totally. So it is hard though to navigate that.

A parent-friend relationship, I feel like. Very hard. Because there will be some times when we're almost two or where we've had a really good day together and then we may be getting an argument and so she's been a little bit too comfortable and maybe crosses some lines. But then I'm like, well, I don't want to start yelling now because we're in a... It's weird. Yeah, and so we like to...

Pause and come back. Pause and come back. No more talking about now before we start saying things we regret. Yeah. Let's pause and come back. Think about what we're actually mad about. Yeah. Well, I know there's been times with my dad to where I've maybe gotten a little too comfortable and I've maybe said too much about like my personal life or things. And then it switches from that friend to parent. And I'm like, oh shit, I should never have told him that. Yeah.

to feel like, oh, next time in the story, I got to reel it in some. So it's like, and there's some times that I'm, she'll come to me and this is like, okay, you, you, I want to tell you this story really bad. And you just can't get onto me for anything that happens in this story. And like, know that I've never made any bad decisions and I was safe, but let me tell you about this. And I'm like, it's probably, it's usually about a year later. It's usually about a year later. It's so crazy though, to hear, because you talk about getting pregnant at such a young age, but it's,

Now as an adult though, like for me, I can't even fathom getting pregnant at that. Like at such a young age. I think I would be more panicked now. But like even now I'm like, okay, it takes a lot more to get pregnant than what people make you believe. Like, oh, you can get pregnant the first time. Now granted, I know people that have, but like for me, I'm thinking to myself like,

I probably should have been by now. You know, it's a lot harder in certain circumstances than people believe. I know. I mean, obviously I hadn't, I hadn't even taken a biology class yet. That's insane. I really had no idea. You hadn't even taken geometry. When she came out, I was like blonde hair and blue eyes. What is going on? She can't take a biology. No biology yet. Because,

like with someone from four years, I was engaged. Like there was a point in time where it was like, okay, with the amount of activity that there has been, how am I not by now? It's wild. So it's so crazy to think that it really can happen just like that. But so what would you say is the, was the biggest now looking at your life, the toughest lesson or the toughest experience with teen pregnancy? Yeah.

- I'll start crying at some point for sure. - I wanna say what I think it is. - Okay, you go ahead. - She had a really-- - You say from a child's perspective. - It was really hard for me to watch her when I turned 14 to see her realize what it was like for a parent to have, for a parent's kid to have a kid. That's when she was like, "I can't imagine you having a kid right now." And so the fact that I had a kid when it just, it really tripped her out for a really long time and really messed her up. - Wow. - I always thought that I would be more shocked

when she turned 14 and like seeing how young she was. But it's like I didn't even think about myself at that age. I thought about my mom, like all the dreams and things that she had for me, like just being

whipped out from under her. Like it was really, I'm my own individual person and this is what was supposed to happen for me. But that was my mom and I was her first daughter. And so, you know, we went through life. It really took a second to think about how your mother felt. I feel like you probably had a different view of your mother at that point. Right. And I always knew that it affected my mom differently than my sister and my dad and everybody else.

everybody in my family learned from my situation. I mean, I feel like it was like life lessons for everybody involved. But, and so, and like, I mean, my mom lost friends. People were mean to her at work. I knew that then, but I think I didn't realize her perspective as a mom was

until like she was 14. Did you ever look at her and see yourself like pregnant at that time? No, because I mean, I remember like going to her eighth grade, like because eighth grade is when I got pregnant and I was cheering like in a cheerleading uniform and

five months, I mean, I didn't know at the time, but cheer was already done when I'd found out, but I was still like in uniform doing back handsprings. And I would be looking down and watching like the eighth grade girls then, and obviously how much the world has changed in these past 14 years. And I just wanted to be like,

stand up to all the moms and be like, everybody make sure you're talking to your kids when you get like, cause I think that they do look so young. And a lot of parents just are like, no, that's not my child's not doing that. And my mom did was, was like, my child's not doing that. And I gave her no reason to think that I was doing anything else. What advice would you give to parents? I think the absolute most important thing to have in a relationship with your child is by far trust. Like at the end of the day, Annika knows that,

When she makes a decision, no matter what the decision is, mom can get mad at me, but I can still tell her. I can still go to her. And I think I also made it clear with Annika, if it's something that you don't feel comfortable going to me about, these are people that you can go to and y'all never have to tell me. I know she can go to my best friend Madison that's a lawyer and just an amazing person, and they can take care of whatever needs to happen. You know, I just want her to have a person to go to because...

I didn't have an adult I could go to and trust. There's so many kids that don't have an adult at all. And I just never wanted that to be her. I always wanted to make sure I gave her information and told her what I thought. But at the end of the day, when you have kids, those kids aren't yours. They are yours to make into incredible human beings, but they are their own person. She's not my property. I'm not here to make decisions for her. I'm supposed to guide her.

her to be the best she can be. I love that. That it's amazing. First off, I told you when y'all walked in, I was like, I was like somewhat, is this happening right now? You are twins. It's never been like that though. I literally used to look like I came out of my dad. Yeah. It was wild. The last like year she got her, we went to the same orthodontist. I don't know. He might've put some, some powder in there. I don't know. Yeah. But she got the braces off and I was like,

Hello? For the first time. Yeah, she's never looked like me. So...

Also to tell me to shut up if you want but what would you say was the difference between a teenage girl in pregnancy and the guy the the father in pregnancy ed as a teenager? Yeah, lots because that's oddly enough. I don't really think that's spoken about it's not yeah, I mean it's the responsibility is the majority of time put on the mom, but I feel like it's that at any age it doesn't just because you're tamed at me so like but her dad's always been involved and

He played sports, I played sports. We both went to the same high school, which made those first years nice because she'd be at mom's cheer games and we're also watching dad play basketball. She's there. So then once he moved to college, I also moved to college. She's always lived with me, but always seen him. We've always had different parenting plan schedules. It's always been...

There's always, it's not to say it's been perfect. Yes, but I do feel like, I mean, I was in the principal's office one time for something and he looked at me and said, we see that, you know, he gets away with more than you can, but you know, we're sorry. And that's just the actual like principal of the school taught me this. And I'm like, well, that just set me up to know that people are going to treat him differently than me. But I mean,

at the end of the day, I did not want to be in a relationship with him. And so I knew I didn't, I couldn't control anything that he wanted to. And I think that's a lot of, that's a crazy lesson to learn at 14. Crazy. When you, I mean, there's people that get divorced in like their forties and start messing with kids. And it's like, so to deal with what I was dealing with. - A parenting plan. - Yeah, dealing with a parenting plan and also like homework, it was a lot.

But it always fell more on me. But I didn't mind because I wanted her. Yeah. She was yours. Yeah. If I could have 365 days, I would. And I would never. He deserves time too. Well, it's crazy. It's kind of, which I think of my mom in her early 20s when she got pregnant with Chase. So my older brother, who's 14 months older than me,

You know, my dad had just come off a divorce. He had two kids. He and my mom was like the preacher's daughter in a small one stoplight town in South Carolina. Preacher's daughter. Everyone knew everyone. And she got pregnant and she told my dad she was like, I am not.

She was like, this is my baby. I'm going to raise my baby. If you want to be involved in his life, you can. But like I'm raising my child. And my dad was like, he, I mean, I've read parts of the book that he's working on. And it literally like I was just sobbing just because he talks about

the first time he saw my mother how he felt how he would just go into the bank just to be able to see her and yeah like she wouldn't give him the time of day you know and she told him she was like i'm not marrying you just for you to make the same mistake you made with your first wife so it's like he asked her like twice and she told him no yeah and now look at him you know 27 years later but it's like she said like a small town your father being the preacher getting

Pregnant, out of wedlock. Yeah, I can only imagine. And they got married May 25th. Chase was born June 1st. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it was... It's hard, and I'm sure she felt some of these same emotions, because, like, there was not one day of my pregnancy where I ever got to be, like, proud or excited or, like, relish in it, even. Or, like, it was just such a shameful thing that, like, I almost... If I was smiling, people were gonna be... She's happy about this. Mm-hmm.

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Because I can't be showing stuff like that around school. So it's just like, you know. Well, see, life and too, I think now looking at life, life is too short for that. Yeah. For anyone going through anything similar to this, like enjoy what you should enjoy. You know, like don't allow other people to completely destroy what should be beautiful. Because look at you now. Yeah.

I feel guilt sometimes for like, because we've had, you know, hard custody times or this and that. And, and sometimes when splitting custody, there are things in situations where you're just like, like, I just, I want that. Like, that's my child. I should be able to make these decisions. And so growing and realizing that so many other people get to have,

opportunities to teach her things in life too. Like she, she's really has such amazing people in her life because of her. She's a great person though. No, she is. I remember the first time. Well, first off, I thought she was like 20 years old and then they informed me. What did I say? Something about drinking or something. And something. And I was like, well, yeah, I guess so.

Yeah, I said something and she was like, well, Annika's 16. I was like... 16-year-olds look crazy these days. I did not get to look like that. I know. This is not fair. No, I didn't either. I was still wearing like a little cheer bow in my hair too. Literally. She looks great, but I just... No eyeliner. I was wearing...

What's going on? No, I did not get to... No, it's not fair. It's not. I do claim 19 mentally. Mentally. What I've been through, 19 is my internal state. It's crazy, though. Like, it's absolutely insane. And I will say, you have done a great job. Just getting and sitting to talk to her...

Like I've never, like just being, you encounter people that you're in the same room and you're like, the room feels lighter with that person in it. That's literally how I feel when she's in the room. Thank you. Literally. Like, it's amazing. That's all you can like hope for as a mom is that your child shines rays upon other people. She's amazing. I get like mom sometimes, cause sometimes she's like, what are you?

Stop being a real mom right now. Like you're being a mom. You're being a mom. You're being a mom. Stop. Remember, we're friends. We grew up together. No matter how cool you are. And cool says, you will always be a loser to a teenager. Oh, yeah. That's like Chloe. Like she'll look at me and she'll be like, you're not fun. I bet she thinks that you're the most uncool person. I'm sorry, but she just does.

like thanks I appreciate it I'm like I think I'm the coolest person here it is fine I also think too one of the big things that I fear which I think both you'll be able to speak from different perspectives I fear for Chloe is that she came into this world in not an ideal situation right you know she came into this world and she didn't get to choose and she

She had a mother and father who had their own circumstances, who were not capable of taking care of her. So then my parents stepped in.

And then, you know, she got so used to them raising her. And now I'm so I feel like she's she started off with so many negatives. Yeah. She used to always be worried about like what the parents are going to think and what they're just making sure everything looked right and that she was doing everything good. And to me, it was just normal. Like, it didn't seem like there was all these things being thrown at me. And like, I had a young mom. It was such a bad thing. Like, I was like, no, it's normal. She's my mom. And it definitely was like.

Just the person I was, if people did know who we were without knowing who we actually were, people would be like, oh, she's the daughter of the teen mom. And I'd be like, no, she's just my mom. She's just my mom. It doesn't matter when I was born, how old she was. She's just my mom. And it doesn't matter what age she would have been. She would have been my mom no matter what. And we wouldn't have...

we wouldn't have gone through what we went through and had such a good relationship if it wasn't for that. So it was so many good things. Now when people meet her, they don't meet her. I'm sure you didn't meet her and think, oh, she definitely has a teen mom. She's got a teen mom. No. So it doesn't make any. It doesn't build me as a person. It doesn't define who I am. So you didn't look at, now the older you've got, you don't look at it as it was a negative. No. But I bet there were times where you thought. I can't imagine what she went through personally. I mean, I just wanted her to have the most normal childhood experience

that she could, I was always making sure she was involved with like little sports and T-balls and doing dance recitals and like trying to make sure, I mean, I was like, without one semester couldn't buy a book for a class because we did softball instead. It was just like, we always were going back and forth and like we had to,

lean on each other. Like she had to help support me and I'm now having to help support her. Like it just goes both ways. - And too, the pro of this whole situation is you're going to be a hot grandmother. - You know what? She's not, she's like-- - I'm not thinking about kids anytime soon. - I better be like a 50 year old. - No, you're 16.

think like you know 30 when you're 30 you'll be still only gonna be well I joke like a lot of times you'll be 45 as a grandmother literally like I'm like if one of us doesn't have another kid like we're gonna be taking care of what if what if she's 80 and I heard health declines first I'm gonna be 94 still walking around taking care of

pushing her around that's crazy yeah 14 years apart i mean like i have friends that have siblings that are and i see them bicker and i'm like yeah we bicker like that too but at the end of the day i have to like put my mom at the end of the day she could be like i'm your mom you're grounded she can't be like i'm your big sis yeah i'm your mom i'm your mom yep let me have your car keys yeah that's when we start to tussle yeah but if i pay for the car i get to take the keys yeah

- Cool, Connie. Okay, so what's next? What's next for your YouTube channels? You personally. - I started my own YouTube channel apart from JNA almost a year ago in June. And I have since then decided that New York is my place. New York is where I love, I fit in, I love the chaos of it, I love everything about it. And so we had to stay here legally until I'm 18,

In about a year and 20 days, we'll be in New York. I have known forever. And she's following me. Yeah, she's following me. She's following me. I have known forever. I stopped dating when she was in like fifth grade-ish. No, before that. Wait, before that. And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to be devoted to her. I only have her until she's 18 and then she can go do whatever she wants. Like, I'm just going to, I'll be 32 when she, I can do whatever I want then. Yeah.

I think I'm just going to move within 30 minutes of wherever she is the rest of her life. Because I don't want to go experience these things without her. We've done everything together. I don't want to. Then I'm going to need to be there to babysit. I'm just going to be 30 minutes. We can't separate our cats. No, the cats have to. I have a cat. She has a cat. They're best friends. So we're both going to New York. You're both going to New York.

I'm so jealous because I have said I want to live in New York for a year just to say that I've done it. Well, come stay with us. Come stay with us. Y'all, I will. Seriously. Have you like already picked out an area you want to be in? Upper West Side. Well, that's like obviously true. We know that you can't have location, price, and square foot, like everything you want. But we would love to be in the Upper West Side because it's close to a park for our dog. Yeah. I think you guys should have two apartments right next to each other.

- Right next to each other. - And they have a connecting door. - Yeah, so you have your own space 'cause you gotta get activated. - Even down the hall. - Come on. - I know, I'm gonna have to in New York. Every now and then, we went to Coachella together and I was like,

if you see me make out with somebody this weekend, just turn the other way, girl. I don't know. I'm feeling kind of crazy. I mean, nothing happened. Nothing happened. I love that. I had my eyes on her. That is amazing. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited to see what's in store because you guys are so fun. Well, let me know if you need any PTA help. Lord have mercy. I will. I now, after meeting you, I look at you like Harper Valley PTA. Do you know what that is? No. Girl. Girl.

No. It is your life. Okay, go watch it. It's a movie that came out. I'm in a show hole. I need something to watch. It's like, came out in like the 80s or 90s. Okay. The fact that I know this. It was like my favorite movie as a kid. Yeah.

there's a song about it and it talks about this mom who like the PTA always like talk shit about and yeah she goes that because they talk about her and her like many skirts and all this stuff and she walks into the parent-teacher comp like association meeting and she's got on her mini skirt and yeah it's literally I have like a section of clothes this big for my like cheer mom clothes

- Mom clothes. - That is amazing. Okay, so your YouTube channel is what? - Jennica and Annika. And then I also have mine, it's Annika Jane. - Okay, I love it. I'm gonna go and watch all of it now. - Thank you so much for having us. - Thank you. - Being a chef means keeping your cool in the kitchen.

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