Teenagers

[Weathergames]

I am not BU but WHY when you ask them to do something and they sigh and moan, you ask them to do it properly and they roll their eyes and treat you like an utter nag and rush it and don't do it properly then you get them to come back to do it properly and they behave as if you are treating them like slave labour

DD (16) has just said her and her brothers (13 & 18) do ALL the housework.

"ALL" is empty and load the dishwasher, fold clean washing and keep rooms tidy (this is rarely adhered to) occasionally (once a month) ask her to clean bathroom sink.

ARGH?! Am I alone?

My two don't have uniforms so that's a lot of the reason why washing can be left entirely to them. I know they'll likely grow out of the room pit stage so we just shut their doors. Some housework days we make them do their rooms and so it doesn't get too squalid. I think for teens they are pretty compliant, we just have to watch out for telling them to do anything on the fly as then it's the biggest issue ever. We found a whiteboard worked quite well. Chores on the board in the morning to be done when dh and me get home from work. No nagging required.

I don't know what to say really- except that no, this is not how all teenagers are. Yes, a bit of stropping- but some of these are really horrible

Mine aren't that bad, & I don't think that I was either.

My daughter does get over dramatic about stuff though.

It's a disaster if she can't find something & she huffs and puffs as she searches!

She does look after her room though & cleans the bathroom if necessary if a friend is coming round.

Dd had a dreaded sleepover last night.

I don't have them much as they seem to bring the worst out in her, she gets over excited and they seem to think they have to stay awake all night and act like maniacs.
I'm not sure what ever happened to a movie in bed and some midnight giggling.

So anyway, she gets yet another chance and we left them downstairs at 10.30 to go to bed telling them to go to bed around midnight (yeah right)

I had to tell them to stfu once but apart from that it was quiet.

So this there's a bit of mess for them to sort out BUT, they have also decided to help themselves to a drop of my chocolate stoli which was a birthday present. They left the bottle out and the glasses still stinking of the stuff.

I give up

My dd was a horror, 16 now and much better. I resorted to the binbag trick on several occasions, including iPads, kindles and phones (which I kept and she had to earn back, everything else was binned), but her room was still a pit. I tried to ignore it, if she wanted to live in that mess, get on with it. One day I went in and her ensuite toilet was completely blocked (almost overflowing, really) and knickers with used sani pads all over the floor and bed. Her room STANK. Plus the crockery, glasses, mugs, yoghurt pots - vile. It was truly a biohazard.

She was away for the weekend so I packed all of her stuff in boxes except school books, and moved her furniture and everything into the teensiest box room in the house (my office), with her boxes of stuff under her bed. Also meant she lost her sky box and tv.

She stayed there 6 months (was a couple if years ago now) and kept the room clean. Then she got her old room back and is tidy now - quite house proud in fact!!

It also amazes me how long it takes her and dsd to load the dishwasher which is their only chore. Can take them an hour after a standard evening family meal. Took me and DH about 3 minutes last Sunday to clear table, load dishwasher, wash up roasting pans etc (roast dinner), dry them up and put away, wipe table, hob and work surfaces, and leave the kitchen clean and tidy.

They also tend to do their own washing as otherwise dh does it, and their stuff keeps going missing, he just cannot tell the difference between their stuff and mine so their tops and knickers often end up in with my stuff and vice versa and it drives them mad. It's a mans logic of 'do the job badly and you won't be expected to do it again' - it doesn't work with me but has trained the 2girls pretty well!

My dd was such a hard worker in school. Involved in everything. Teachers spoke so highly of her. Her room was a tip. She said please cut me some slack here l can't be good at everything. So l did. She loves cooking and baking but the amount of dishes she uses is unreal. She says l need to do it to unwind so l turn a blindeye. I hope she can afford a cleaner when she has her own house! I have a friend whose grown up kids come round to hers and put their feet on the coffee table totally chill out leaving coffee cups around. When she calls round to them she has to take her shoes off at the door in their pristine mansions. Maybe my dd will be like that one day.