to point out that teenagers aren't all that bad really?

[DameHermione]

DD1 (15) is spending her easter holidays revising. I don't need to nag her. she also works 2 different after school jobs (and is exceptionately beautiful too). Her friends are all a nice bunch too.

I took DD2 14) and 3 friends shopping yesterday. They were cheerful, polite and really nice to spend the day with.

Of course I believe it is all down to my superior parenting skills. But teenagers get a lot of stick for being difficult, rude, all smoking, drinking, shagging around and nasty. But sometimes, some of them are OK.

mine are mostly a bit vile and horonal and stroppy. but sometimes they are lovely.

i think it must be very hard to be a teenager now, compared to when I was one (1980s).

more temptations
more materialism
more academic pressure
more pressure to look a certain way
FB and all that look at me shite
loads of negative media scrutiny

Oh and sex everywhere, and pornification of culture.

that's why i felt the need to post maryz. i rant about them so much and always having a moan about how vile DD2 is, it was noticable how delightful they have both been recentlly.

having said that DD1 appears to be channeling my PMT and has gone a bit snappy and irritable this evening.

I love to hear a teenager laugh. You never laugh like that again. A rolling round the floor, tears down the face laugh.

(Sorry if that sounds a bit naff )

No, you're right Mumbles.
It's not quite a child but not yet an adult type laugh.
I love it when I make my ds laugh, and we have the same sense of humour so we get each other's jokes now, which is another great thing about having a teen.

YANBU I met one yesterday who was just such a lovely girl and really good company.

i was a teen in the 80s and tbh nothing has really changed except we didnt have facebook or whatever but it was just the same i was just the same as mine worried about the same thinks , i was really rebellious but my mum was very strict so that just made me worse , while i think im quite strict always had boundries etc but im fair well my kids think i am , and im certainly not my girls friend I would hate them to walk all over me cos i was their mate ,

same things*

Teens are, on the whole , bloody lovely!

I have an 18yr old highly academic new uni student who is also a typical blonde airhead lol. A16yr old " baby man" who is so lovely it makes me sniffle- the best was holding his demented, prone to falling, grandads arm and walking him across the city centre without a care for who might see him. And a 12yr old who seems to be growing out of the silly stroppy phase- which is lovely- she tells e she " feels about 14" and looks at least that -eek!

I also meet other peoples teens on a 1to1 basis at work. Surprisingly even the " scary hoody" sort are mostly polite and communicative - a bit of " fuckspeak" where all the ums are filled in otherwise but actually that's the posturing 20 something's really.

I was even cornered, in the dark, on my own on a local station platform ( with only stairs as the way out) by a large pierced teen/20s lad......

He then carried my loaded shopping trolley down the stairs or me!

I'm sure they all have teen moments and can be awful ( not so sure- dd1 always looks a heck of a lot less drunk than the others on Facebook lol. Maybe she just carries it well!) but over all it's the best parenting so far :-)