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Original poster

Tell me my teens aren't the only ones lol

561 replies

Srepmum1984 · 21/02/2025 14:14

I am growing more and more gobsmacked with my teenagers common sense and I wanted to hear some other funny stories.

This week alone, son has toasted bread with butter already on it because he couldn't be bothered to wait and it smelt like the house was on fire.

Was feeling ill, so made him a Lemsip. He poured it (literally) straight into his mouth then screeched he didn't realise it was hot. He watched me make it from the kettle.

Today he is working with me over his college half term in the office for some extra cash. Blew his nose, then proceeded to try and open my free standing air conditioner fin part as he thought ' I had a fancy Japanese bin'

Please tell me I am not alone😂😂😂

OP posts:
PleaseDontFingerMyPouffe · 23/02/2025 22:57

Those of you who find this thread depressing & despair about the parenting - you know you can just scroll on by? Maybe start your own thread about the State of Parenting Today even...

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:56

MonkeyHarold · 23/02/2025 22:52

"by 18 I was half way across the world."

Did you travel there on your high horse?

Show quote history

No, by plane.i saved up by working in a care home.

SlaveToAGoldenRetriever · 23/02/2025 22:55

BedBathAndBeyonce · 23/02/2025 22:53

I’m surprised it took so far down the thread for the “my teens are/were/will be perfect” brigade to turn up and tell you all your kids/your parenting are irredeemably broken Grin

Edited

Nobody is suggesting their child is perfect, at least I’m certainly not! I just don’t think that a lack of basic life skills and obvious failed parenting is something to laugh about

PixieTales · 23/02/2025 22:55

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:24

This thread is depressing. These children are our future.

by 18 I was half way across the world. Living independently, cooking eggs, using the microwave doing the washing.

ffs parents, take some responsibility and teach your children life skills. It’s not funny, it’s pretty horrifying.

Totally agree. I don’t find it funny or cute it’s pathetic and depressing.

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:55

BedBathAndBeyonce · 23/02/2025 22:53

I’m surprised it took so far down the thread for the “my teens are/were/will be perfect” brigade to turn up and tell you all your kids/your parenting are irredeemably broken Grin

Edited

If your teen looks the shell of an egg, then yeah, you have definitely failed in teaching that particular life skills.

elledee412 · 23/02/2025 22:54

woodymumoftwo · 21/02/2025 14:22

My daughter put a bowl of cold food in the microwave but left the fork in it. It tripped the electrics but then threw a cup of water over the microwave because she thought it would blow upConfused

My brother once put an entire saucepan in the microwave and was v confused when it started sparking. Small wonder he didn’t burn the house down. He’s 30 now and we still make fun of him for it 😂

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:53

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:31

This a thread about perfectly capable teens doing silly things

Show quote history

Cooking the shell of an egg? Seriously?

im a mum of 3, Definitely not a mum who devoted my self to teaching DD 14/11/9 to life skills, but they can all pour a drinkable g and t, make a cup of teas, use the velvetiser , microwave , toaster, hang washing, dd14/11 do the ironing, coukd fry an egg, make banana bread.

im pretty chilled, but i really feel like id failed if my dd14/11 (or dd9 actually) friend the shell of an egg ffs.

BedBathAndBeyonce · 23/02/2025 22:53

I’m surprised it took so far down the thread for the “my teens are/were/will be perfect” brigade to turn up and tell you all your kids/your parenting are irredeemably broken Grin

MonkeyHarold · 23/02/2025 22:52

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:24

This thread is depressing. These children are our future.

by 18 I was half way across the world. Living independently, cooking eggs, using the microwave doing the washing.

ffs parents, take some responsibility and teach your children life skills. It’s not funny, it’s pretty horrifying.

"by 18 I was half way across the world."

Did you travel there on your high horse?

SlaveToAGoldenRetriever · 23/02/2025 22:52

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:33

Until she comes home from uni...pregnant 😆

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No chance of that for various reasons - we had this conversation a few weeks ago and she can’t think of anything worse than having kids young! Definitely doesn’t want to settle down anytime soon. She’s hoping to study graduate entry medicine after her current degree so will probably go down the same egg freezing route as me to have kids a bit later and focus on building a good life/career for herself. Mature head on young shoulders

SiobhanSharpe · 23/02/2025 22:51

blueshoes · 23/02/2025 22:36

This one is forgivable. I can see the logic. Who knew about the extreme foaming.

Show quote history

Ahem. I am pension age and then some, used a tiny, tiny squirt of WUL in the unfamiliar machine in our holiday apartment this January after we had run out of the supplied laundry tabs.
It's truly extraordinary, the foam. (Never gets that foamy when doing the washing up...)

Justgorgeous · 23/02/2025 22:49

julesagain · 23/02/2025 22:04

My two daughters are nothing like the teens on this thread, thank God. They have been raised earlier than anticipated due to my health collapsing when they were 7 and four, to cook, operate a washing machine and iron, and other such things. My eldest, when on her residential trip age ten was the only one who was able to put her duvet in the cover and brought all her dirty clothes back in it's designated bag and not mixed in with the clean ones. My friends were extremely envious of that. They can also paint and decorate, assemble furniture, and know basic car maintenance before they started to drive. Most of this has been due to necessity due to my health, but neither feel hard done by as we've still had fun and they are largely prepared for adult life

Great! We all have our own journey.

letslaughitoff · 23/02/2025 22:47

Kurokurosuke · 23/02/2025 22:37

Working and paying bills doesn’t stop you doing slight dumb stuff! Even as an adult, a house owner, a parent I have definitely done stuff and thought, well that was stupid. Have you not?

and one of the best, most helpful most cathartic responses to this is to have a laugh. To share it.

these kids aren’t doing anything bad, just slightly ill thought out errors. Which they will hopefully learn from 🤣

Show quote history

Ive done plenty of dumb things but the basic life skills i know about from the age of 10 upwards.
But at 15 i think we all know not to put milk in kettles and plastic in ovens and how a lemsip is made along with many more things.

StepAwayFromGoogling · 23/02/2025 22:43

I put washing up liquid in the dishwasher when I'd run out of tablets. I broke it. I was 46.

ladygoingGaga · 23/02/2025 22:42

This thread has cheered me up!

I have a 19 years old DS, bright but will not seek advice or take any at all.
He regularly cycles the two miles to work in a hoody, never checks the weather, you would think coming home soaked would only happen once - nope! I’ve informed him numerous times there are such things as weather forecasts.

Then he gets the reminder to tax his car he is learning to drive in, I remind him.. several times, offer to show him, I get “leave it mum I’m capable of sorting it out”
He was sent a fine this week. And no I did t pay it!

Lostmyusernametoday · 23/02/2025 22:41

To all the ‘it’s a generation problem’ brigade. When we were teens out friends parents went away and we tried to make a pot noodle and we added the sauce sachet to the kettle. Tea with a hint of chicken going forwards 😂. Can confirm we’re all now reasonably successful women who operate fine in society, I think it’s just teens! Can also confirm my mum definitely showed me how to do things, again, it’s teens!

Kurokurosuke · 23/02/2025 22:37

letslaughitoff · 23/02/2025 21:58

Yep.
I was standing on my own feet at 16 living on my own at 18 working and paing my own bills and working on a course to make something of myself.
The other week a friend of mine told me her 17 year old fried an egg but it dint taste how mum done it because he cracked the whole thing shell as well in the pan.
She said it was so funny.

Show quote history

Working and paying bills doesn’t stop you doing slight dumb stuff! Even as an adult, a house owner, a parent I have definitely done stuff and thought, well that was stupid. Have you not?

and one of the best, most helpful most cathartic responses to this is to have a laugh. To share it.

these kids aren’t doing anything bad, just slightly ill thought out errors. Which they will hopefully learn from 🤣

yourmaw · 23/02/2025 22:36

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

...obligatory- "betchure fun at parties" --- eyeroll.

Also apply the above to @Sugepaper Either dreadful parenting or not very bright. My 10 yr old wouldn’t do any of this.

Such condemnation on a "fun" thread. Here is the attention you so despearately crave

blueshoes · 23/02/2025 22:36

Drylogsonly · 23/02/2025 21:59

DS has been doing laundry for a good 18 months now - age 14- and a couple of weeks ago couldn’t find the laundry capsules to improvised wit some washing up liquid instead… just FYI its foams, REALLY foams but still the kitchen fkoor got a good wash I suppose

Show quote history

This one is forgivable. I can see the logic. Who knew about the extreme foaming.

Tricho · 23/02/2025 22:33

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:33

Until she comes home from uni...pregnant 😆

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Excuse me?

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:33

summer3219 · 23/02/2025 22:16

You can try and provide all the instructions and life lessons possible but teens will still do daft things. I'm not sure whether it is a lack of application of the information they have been provided with or just a belief that now they are heading for adulthood they know better.

Do you really think that? I’m really screwing up my brain and I honestly do not remember for any of these things as a teenager, and I wouldn’t say my mum was a particularly ‘on it ‘ parent.

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:33

SlaveToAGoldenRetriever · 23/02/2025 22:27

Fully agree!

Show quote history

Until she comes home from uni...pregnant 😆

hpertrophywife · 23/02/2025 22:33

couchparsnip · 23/02/2025 21:22

I was one of those judgemental parents. DS has amazing common sense and I took full credit.
He cooks, keeps his room tidy etc, an old head on young shoulders.

Then along came DD who insists she needs no help doing anything and then tries to boil noodles in the kettle or cook a cake at 220 degrees because it will go faster. 🤣. She has the same upbringing but just refuses to believe that anything I tell her is worth listening to! Not since she was about 10.

I have a younger one who is so competent it's insane - the eldest... Well. She's lovely, but Confused There is the world in her head, and that's far more interesting than the one we all inhabit! So - same!!

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:32

SlaveToAGoldenRetriever · 23/02/2025 22:26

Judging by this thread I am very glad that my 20yo DD seems to have grown up with common sense and half decent problem solving skills! Some of these replies are absolutely batshit. How on earth are half of these teens and young adults going to cope in the real world?

Don’t get me wrong, DD isn’t perfect by any means but there are so many examples here of blatant learned helplessness. Very depressing.

Edited

They are one offs...

BeGoldHedgehog · 23/02/2025 22:31

Iwishicouldflyhigh · 23/02/2025 22:24

This thread is depressing. These children are our future.

by 18 I was half way across the world. Living independently, cooking eggs, using the microwave doing the washing.

ffs parents, take some responsibility and teach your children life skills. It’s not funny, it’s pretty horrifying.

This a thread about perfectly capable teens doing silly things