Why does my teenage son get such joy from scaring me half to death?

[TitaniasAss]

He creeps into the kitchen, utility etc when I'm in there, like a bloody ninja then laughs like a drain when I leap 10 feet in the air. One of these days I'll whack him with the laundry basket or whatever.

He thinks it's hilarious of course. Is it just mine? 😂

Do I need to preface this with 'lighthearted'? In case someone tells me he's a psychopath? Surely not ...

My 18-year-old giant does it to me because he knows I'm really jumpy, but I do it to him as well because it's funny when he screeches like a little girl 😂

Mine did this. One day he came home to what he thought was an empty house. It wasn’t. I was hiding behind his bedroom door. I actually regretted jumping out at him. He was terrified and shook for about 5 minutes afterwards.

My brother did this to my grandmother when she was preparing dinner one day. She chased him down the garden with a carrot knife, and his only observation was that he'd never seen an 80+-year-old move so quickly in his life...!

Some people never grow out of it. Someone at work still does it to me, and he is in his mid-30's!

I knew one or two people would take this thread seriously. 😂 I won't be asking him to move out.

I love doing this to my DS! I especially like to grab his ankles through the banister. In retaliation he likes to try rugby tackle me and runs as fast as he can from the kitchen and leaps on me on the sofa. All 6 foot 3 of him.

I'm the ninja in our house 😂 no-one hears me coming!
I do get a jump scare though when he comes in the front door like a bat out of hell and practically takes it off the hinges!

On a side note I know teenage boys get a lot of stick but I genuinely love parenting him, he's so funny and watching him grow up brings me such joy 🥰

Dh did it once to me by accident. He appeared behind me and spoke while I was holding a cup of tea, which of course I launched at his head.

he has announced himself entering a room ever since, over 20 years 😂

Agreed. Mine went through a tough time a couple of years ago and it's so lovely having him back out the other side now.

No it’s called having a laugh.

Ours stand on the back of the couch - which is to the left of our lounge door - then jumps onto his dad when he walks through the door. Not on me, though. I’m too scary.

DH does this to me all the time - I’ve only managed to get my own back once 😂😭

I would consider it a sign of a good relationship that DS still wants to mess around.

My son TRIES to do this but he’s got about as much steath as a bull elephant….🤭

If mine did this I would probably lamp him or throw something in immediate defensive reaction, I wouldn’t be aiming to hurt my son but I don’t take kindly to being scared by surprise.

This reminds me of when a friend if mine was home alone and showering. She had the front door locked but not the bathroom.

She was just getting out of the shower and realised she had no towel, so did the quick dash across the landing. Her DH was home early from work and scared her as she came out of the bathroom. Her fight instinct came in and she pinned him up against the wall screaming in his face. Just an ‘arrrhhh’ scream.

She drew blood with her nails, and he vowed never to do it again. He has also said if someone was to break in, he will send her as she can clearly look after herself. She is a very petite woman where as he is tall and stocky but it makes us laugh so much every time we talk about it. 😂😂

Mine have been known to do that too or alternatively stand behind a closed door they know I’m about to go through

Answer to that is to give the door a good hard shove before you walk through it, if there's a chance someone might be lurking behind it. When they've been clobbered a couple of times they might think better of it.