Gilmore Girls originally came out in 2000, but since then, it has become a favorite for many generations. With its Netflix reboot, the show has lived on and new watchers begin binging it every day. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore are the quirky mother-daughter duo that the show revolves around. Many have praised their relationship because the two are so close, while others easily point out the mishaps that follow them. Luckily, Rory and Lorelai learned several hard lessons through their on-screen life so we don’t have to! Here are 5 parenting lessons from Lorelai Gilmore (not to mention some our our fav Gilmore Girls quotes!).
“Life’s been pretty good to you. It was your turn for a few curveballs. Peaks and valleys, kid.”
Throughout the show, Rory Gilmore had some pretty high hopes for herself. While Lorelai’s parenting often didn’t help, she was always there to cheer her up when things weren’t quite going her way. Especially in the Netflix reboot, Lorelai helped Rory understand that not every moment of your life can be perfect and that sometimes a slump is OK.
“I can be flexible. As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I’m totally flexible.”
I’m sure every mother in the world has thought this at one point or another. Although this was a joke from Lorelai, it’s an honest truth that shows up many times in the show. Lorelai learns a very important parenting lesson — that not everything will go your way. Many curveballs are sent her way as the show goes on, and even though they aren’t what she had planned, she has to find a way to get past them. Take it from Lorelai, you have to be flexible, even when you really don’t want to be.
“If you’re gonna throw your life away, he’d better have a motorcycle.”
This is one of my fave Gilmore Girls quotes. Lorelai has not had the best luck with relationships and this definitely rubs off on her daughter. When Rory gets her first boyfriend, Lorelai is hardly ready for her daughter to be dating and overreacts greatly at first. She often also projects her own past and mistakes on her daughter, which is not fair. Don’t compare your love life to your kid’s — everyone loves in different ways.
“I don’t like problems. I avoid them when I can and I don’t like people pointing them out to me.”
Lorelai constantly is running away from her problems. On the day of her wedding with Max, she literally runs away and takes Rory with her. This clearly shows to Rory that when something is hard, you pack your bags and drive away. This mentality sticks around when Rory and Lorelai are in a fight and don’t speak for months later in the show. This is definitely one of Lorelai’s major flaws and a lesson for us all to learn from. Deal with your problems head-on, especially in front of your children, or you’ll be giving them a green light to run and hide when life gets tough.
“This is it. She can finally go to Harvard like she’s always wanted and get the education that I never got and get to do all the things that I never got to do and then I can resent her for it and we can finally have a normal mother-daughter relationship.”
The most important lesson to take away from the show is that Lorelai always did whatever it took to give her daughter the best chance at life. While sometimes her choices were questionable, they were always what she thought would be best for her daughter. For example, she got a job and moved away from her parents at sixteen so she could give Rory a life that would be different than hers was. She also went to her parents for financial help, even though she really didn’t want to, to help pay for Rory’s schooling. Her decisions, good or bad, were always made so she could give Rory the perfect life.
Any other lessons you’ve learned from Lorelai Gilmore, or any other Gilmore Girls quotes you love? Drop them below!
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