Someone please tell me the best way to deal with teenagers!?

betsie

My ds was a nightmare with showering and deo. But he is a lot better since my Oh told him of all the smelly boys at his school who still got called smelly nick names they acquired at school years later when anyone saw them out in a pub or club - not great if they were trying to impress a new girlfriend.

meritaten

oh I remember those teen years well! luckily I was a real horror as a teen myself - so mine couldnt put any thing past me!
as for the room cleaning - with DS1 I informed him that it was HIS room his responsibility...................yes it was a pigstye on times and sometimes I used to threaten to call in Rentokil. once a week he was ordered to return all crockery and cutlery and wash them up himself. his laundry was NOT DONE unless it appeared downstairs in the utility room. if he didnt put away his ironed laundry - then he had to wear it crinkled and creased cos it wouldnt get done by me again. if he tried to slip unworn clothes into the laundry basket they were simply returned to his room. all with a smile! (gritted teeth really!)
being moody - ignored unless he was rude! I would then walk away with 'until you can speak to me as a human being I am not listening'.
Yes there were times he made me shout - mostly in exasperation/frustration..........but, I remembered my own teen angst and tried to be more patient than own mother.

WantToBeSE

Treevo wrote: »

Mine. Adderall in their breakfast and Night Nurse on a drip. I'm already stockpiling.

Hahaha, don't tempt me!!

Seriously, thanks guys, you have really helped me have a chuckle tonight, despite the nightmare of a teen!

CH27

Remember it's just another phase & it will pass

**Patty**

Since most of you have boys......does ths mean Infanticide is legalised for having teenage girls?

*ever hopeful*

meritaten

ahhh my DD was almost perfect! so she tells me!
lol - she wasnt moody or anything - but, for some reason she always picked 10.00pm as the perfect time to shift her bedroom furniture around! I never complained - that was her only fault apart from being chronically late in! kept me awake many a night - always came in with a cheerful 'Hellloooo - I'm in now'! lmao. the madam knew if she made me laugh I couldnt tell her off!

GeckoGirl1985

I'm not a parent, but I do have 16 nieces and nephews!

Only tips I could possibly give based on my experience with them and how my brothers and sisters deal with their teens;

Yellow Card / Red Card:
My sister actually uses a football based card system for her 14 yr old. When he's pushing his luck, he gets a yellow card warning stuck to the fridge - 'Stop answering back please', 'I have asked you once to tidy your room, please go and do it' etc. This lets him know when he needs to really pull his socks up. If he continues being a pain in the bum he gets a red card on the fridge with a written explanation of what he's done wrong, what the consequences are and how he can avoid it next time - 'Red carded for being rude, laptop confiscated for the rest of the night. In future please be more polite'.

My brother also changes the wireless password each week, and the new password only given out once the kids have done all their chores on a Saturday and if they have behaved properly through the week. No chores - no wireless internet.

As for the smell - buy him some 'sexy' deodorants and shower gels - teen lads especially like Lynx. Just leave it in his room without saying anything and eventually he'll start using it. When you notice he's wearing it make a small comment - 'That Lynx smells good doesn't it?' and leave it at that.

Best of luck! :-)

shirlgirl2004

Mine are out of this phase now but I never would have stood for foul language and I'm afraid I would extend the xbox ban.

On the other hand the eldest is still quite smelly except for when he's coming to see me. I know because I've visited without notice and he's been smelly! It's his choice, I used to tell him when he smelt if he choose not to do anything about it that was upto him as long as he was not going out with me.

Pick your battles but make sure he shows you and your home respect.

sarymclary

P.S. My signature below ↓

life_unexpected_2

Alot of really good advise and which I feel includes a lot of what you need to survive your child's teenage years -humour.

My 14 year is adverse to washing, brushing teeth or using deodrant. I do go in his room every other day to collect washing but this is only that if I didn't he would wear the same uniform for the whole of the school year. Other than that his room his responsibility.

Although we find that no punishment touches DS, who will happily sit out the loss of his Xbox/Computer/TV and neither does withholding his pocket money work.

So I get OH who can talk for England to explain what we are unhappy with and how we expect things to change until DS ears bleed. This seems to work as DS really does just wish we would leave him alone get on with whatever he wants to do.