September 4, 2026 at 11:13am EDT

It’s no secret that teens are really into NeeDohs these days. The colorful, squishy globs are nearly always sold out in stores, but that doesn’t stop teenagers from looking for them every time they go out. And parents don’t seem to mind buying them. Just take mom of six Karah Maiava-Suter, for example. 

Maiava-Suter recently shared an Instagram reel about her daughter’s love of NeeDohs, addressing questions she often gets about their shopping trips to find more and more of the squishy shapes. “Don’t you think they have enough NeeDohs? They’re so spoiled,” she says in the reel, repeating the questions she gets asked. “How many do they have? Why are you always out shopping for NeeDohs?”

“Well, the answer is quite simple,” she says. “When I was 13, I was sneaking boys into my friend’s house. When I was 13, I was smoking cigarettes, I was going to parties, I was in cars I probably shouldn’t have been in. And now, I have a 13-year-old and she wants NeeDohs and she wants lip glosses and she wants pretty candles that smell good. She wants caramel Frappuccinos and she wants to run up points at 7 Brew — all of which are not smoking cigarettes, drinking, sneaking boys in houses, and driving in cars that she should not be in.”

“So yes,” Maiava-Suter concludes, “every time she asks for a NeeDoh, I will be there every single day until I can find her the NeeDoh that she wants. So let kids be kids, and be a parent that lets your kid be a kid.”

The content-creating mom’s point of view is resonating with plenty of parents. “My son is 13 and we finally just went to Build-A-Bear,” said one mom. “I will do whatever childish stuff with him as long as he wants so he isn’t out there doing god knows what that I was doing at his age.”

“You get it!” said another. “I look at my babies and cannot believe the s–t I was up to at their ages. My 16 year old still collects plushies. I love that they’re able to be kids well into their teens. It makes me so happy.”

Another joked, “She doesn’t need you to get Jolly Ranchers for her Zima party in a basement sans supervision? Sounds like you’re killin it mom!”

But it’s also true. Today’s generation of teens seems a bit more innocent than their parents were at the same ages, so why not embrace it, NeeDoh hunts, 7 Brew runs, and all?