When Dance Moms started filming, Maddie Ziegler was 8 years old and her sister Mackenzie Ziegler was 6. Discussing how young they were, Maddie confessed to Maddie Orlando on the podcast The Sister Diary, "I feel like ... it should be illegal to have a kid that young on a reality show." Maddie said that she felt like she and Mackenzie had both missed out on a normal childhood. 

In her book Kenzie's Rules for Life: How to be Happy, Healthy and Dance to Your Own Beat, Mackenzie also spoke out about having to grow up too fast. "I started to regret not being a 'real kid' with a real life," she said, as reported by Life & Style. "I felt like I had no childhood, and it made me sad and angry," she explained.

Despite missing out on their childhood, Maddie is happy that Mackenzie was there with her since the beginning. In her book, The Maddie Diaries, she wrote, "I can't imagine going through everything I've been through these past several years without [Mackenzie] there on the journey with me — even if she bugged me sometimes." It's clear that the pair went through a lot growing up, but at least they had someone by their side!