10 Lessons We’ve Learned From The Very Complicated Parents Of Grey’s Anatomy

Including a few real whoppers.

Ellis Grey “attempted suicide” in front of Meredith when she was a little girl, and her daughter never forgot. Or fully got over it. Pay attention because your kids are watching.

Meredith named her youngest daughter Ellis after her late mom and found that the two Ellises were not at all the same. Ellis Shepherd is sweet and quirky and different; totally the opposite of her namesake.

Who will ever forget Miranda Bailey welcoming Tuck during a bomb scare and telling her terrified intern George “O'Malley, stop looking at my vajayjay!”

When Meredith was in a coma after getting Covid, she had to make a choice: Follow Derek, who died in a car accident, or fight. She fought because as Derek reminded her, “It's not your time yet. Our kids need you.”

Who would ever think that hard-nosed Dr. Bailey would be a big softee? When it comes to her son Tuck, she is a different person. Like when she bribed his school to keep him out of trouble.

Izzie’s mom Robby took her daughter’s college savings and spent it on psychics and never apologized. Taking the money was bad enough, but not apologizing changed the course of their relationship.

Owen asks Bailey for advice on raising baby Leo. She tells him about a spider whose offspring “suck her up, leaving her a dead husk. And then they go on with their lives. That’s parenting. That’s my advice.” Sorry, but yes.

Owen and Teddy’s child Leo loves to wear an Elsa costume, and his parents embrace it completely. “It’s Leo’s world, we just live in it,” Teddy explains. Perfect.

When Derek tragically dies, Meredith has to explain to daughter Zola and son Derek that “no one can fix him,” leaving them heartbroken. It’s a horrible moment, but one most parents learn in their own way.

Alex didn’t want kids until he met his twins with Izzie, Alexis and Eli. He walked away from his life in Seattle, including his wife Jo, and moved to a farm in Kansas for them, and Izzie, because that’s what parenting can do. Redirect your path.