Living in their bedrooms.

[Onesieone]

I have a dd aged 12 and a ds aged 14. They spend the majority of their time in their bedrooms! I'm so fed up with it. If I make them
Stay down with us all I get is attitude and huffs!
How long do ur teenagers spend in their rooms. Or How can I turn this around. I miss their company! It isn't healthy to be closed up in their room all that time.

[Sparklingbrook]

DS1 (14) permanently in his room. He's happy. hH has all his gadgets and Skype, and the TV. He doesn't want to come down and sit with us fuddy duddys.

[Sparklingbrook]

Oh and DS2 is 12 and spends loads of time downstairs with us, dictating what we watch on TV and being LOUD.

[Amandine29]

Most teens do this, they will come round in a few years. I wouldn't force them to spend time with you though, it will only cause resentment.

[MoreBeta]

We have DSs in family room with computers. Not allowed in bedrooms with electronic items.

However, we are having basement refurbished to give then their own space but am worried we will never see them. Just go to school, come home, go to basement. Seems a sad way to live but in truth they are happy as long as we are around. They worry if we aren't.

We started a thing where we all eat together at weekends so we can talk in a relaxed way.

[Onesieone]

They r too old to sit with Mum now. They don't even chat that much anymore unless they want something.

[AnythingNotEverything]

I think eating together us a great way to minimise their isolation. Also, particularly with teenage boys, an "all food must be eaten downstairs" rule ensures you see quite a lot of them.

[Sparklingbrook]

DS1 is not allowed to eat meals up in his room. Although he does have a bag of popcorn as we speak-he's playing FIFA on the PS.

[Onesieone]

Well I have to say they never eat in their rooms. I'm a little OCD about food in bedrooms. Totally unhygienic and bad manners. Lol. We all eat together at the table. Maybe I'm being too needy.

[Onesieone]

Lol Rudy me too!!!

[MrsWOLF1]

Ds lived in his room.dss does the same here for the weekend sat with us for dinner then straight back to his room ds lives abroad now & we communicate more than when he lived at home!!

[Innogen]

In my experience they emerge and become normal human beings at about 20.

[Sparklingbrook]

DS1 (14) has been away all week on work experience. He came back yesterday. I asked DH if he had missed him. DH said it wasn't any different as he's always upstairs anyway.

[chocoluvva]

"become normal human beings at about 20" . Faints! I don't know if I can wait that long - I thought the re-normalising was supposed to start about the age of 17. How disappointing.

[Sparklingbrook]

choco , it sounds like we are in for a long haul. Five more years....

[Innogen]

Fraid so! DD is 22 and a proper human now. Was hard, horrible at times, but so worth it.

[Mabelface]

I text my teenagers too. :D

[ihatethecold]

Same in this house.
He is happy though.
The dog keeps me company now!

[badasahatter]

Dd is 13 now and she gets home from school and disappears directly into her bedroom. She stays there til tea time, eats her evening meal with us, makes us watch awful television for an hour (dinner date, dance moms, etc) then goes to bed. She reads, does homework and plays on her phone. I see her rarely over the weekend too.

If we didn't insist on family meals, we'd never ever see her!

[2kidsintow]

DH stresses that DD spends too long in her room and we don't see much of her.

This is the same DH that wired an intercom up in his own family home as a teen so his Mum could buzz him to tell him that his dinner was ready.

We've stuck with 'must eat meals down here' too :)

[gamerchick]

It's normal.. its handy as well as my 14 yr Lear old tends to hang around me and wrap himself around my neck like a scarf when there's something up and he needs his mam.

I'm probably lucky like that though.

[flow4]

It's normal. DS2 is 14 and has just started this. I miss him. DS1 was pretty horrible at 14-17+ so I didn't mind his absence so much.
choco DS1 is becoming quite human again - he's nearly 19.

[MoreBeta]

DSs away skiing this week. They just emailed to say they are OK.

DW went all mushy and I must say I had been thinking about them too.

You miss them when they aren't around - even though when they are around they never speak to you except if they want something.

[Starballbunny]

My 16y speaks, watches TV and eats with us, always has. DD2 (almost 13) often doesn't, she likes to watch Utube, play SIMs and text her mates. Never as chatty with us as DD1.

DD2 will appear downstairs for a chat, a hug and still fall asleep head on my knee watching TV like a toddler, but it's absolutely when she wants company.