Savannah Chrisley is rethinking her previous ideas about having kids. Raising kids will do that.
As Todd Chrisley faces a possible prison transfer, eldest daughter Savannah is caring for her younger siblings. She’s learned that parenting isn’t as easy as she’d imagined.
On the one hand, it’s kind of funny that she’s only now realizing how difficult and pivotal parenting can be.
But on the other, it’s great that she’s figuring this out before having her own kids!
Savannah Chrisley is the guardian for Chloe Chrisley and Grayson Chrisley
The 26-year-old reality TV personality appeared on The Adversity Advantage Podcast recently to discuss her new family dynamic.
Chloe Chrisley is Savannah’s niece, the 11-year-old daughter of Savannah’s brother, Kyle. Grayson is Savannah’s 17-year-old brother.
Abruptly becoming their caretaker and legal guardian while her parents suffer in prison has been a wakeup call — and has made her rethink previous assumptions about what it means to have children.
“I always used to say I will have however many kids God will allow,” Savannah admitted. “That was my viewpoint.”
She added: “I don’t know, I think when you’re young you think kids are easy, right? No.”
They are not! Many overly-put-upon eldest siblings (especially eldest daughters) have discovered this over the years. But to Savannah, this is new.
To be clear, Savannah still wants to have kids
“After having Chloe and Grayson, if anything, it slowed my timeline down on things,” Savannah explained.
“But I always said God meant for me to be a mom,” she then added.
“If I don’t do anything right with my life,” Savannah vowed, “that’s going to be the one thing that I do right.”
“It’s definitely opened my eyes to how important bringing a child into this world is,” Savannah reflected.
“And,” she continued, “how when we’re gone, what we leave behind are children.”
Savannah went on to affirm: “So, how we raise them and how we love them and guide them, it matters.”
With parenting, even small choices can have a huge impact — for good or for ill
“I think, if anything, it’s just made me realize that when that time does come for me to have kids,” Savannah explained.
She emphasized that “every little decision matters and impacts your child.”
This is about more than just loving kids and not abusing them. Being there for them, displaying and fostering emotional maturity, and little gestures go a long way.
Most older siblings who figure out that raising kids is hard work learn this when they’re younger than Savannah.
Their parents rely upon them for constant, free childcare — making them involuntary third parents during their own adolescence.
In Savannah’s case, that’s not what happened. For all of their many, many flaws, apparently Todd and Julie Chrisley didn’t do that.
However, the court found that they committed fraud, sentencing them to a combined 19 years in prison.
And, in the process, sentencing Savannah to adopt the role of a parent to a tween and a teen when she’s in her twenties.
Savannah will remain in Mom Mode until Julie’s sentence ends … unless Todd and Julie’s appeals end up securing a much earlier release.
Savannah Chrisley: I’m Not Having Kids Any Time Soon! Parenting is Hard! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.