Page 18 | Tell me about your teenager's stupid behaviour

TeenagedTwit · 2023-12-06T04:30:17+00:00

16yo Wants a job. Apparently. Weirdly, a job hasn't fluttered into his bedroom and landed on his lap so he is most perplexed. Picked up an application form for him from a local supermarket. Encourage him to get a pen (no easy feat) and sit down to complete application. 20 seconds later... "What's my name?" And that was just the beginning. I swear a 4yo would make a better employee. I fear for our future. ***Note from MNHQ - we've edited the title as we had a few reports about one of the terms used there. We're sure there was no intention to offend but it was clearly upsetting a few people and we didn't want the issue to derail the thread***

PuttingDownRoots · 07/12/2023 07:45

This is my brother at 19yo. Studying for his MMath at Durham, pretty much a genius.

Was doing some DIY. Decided to see if his finger would fit through the whole on the workbench. Well It did.. but wouldn't come out again. He then had to chose between ringing me at school (about 30 minutes away, I was do A levels) or trying to saw the bench to get his finger out. He chose th saw option and fortunately didn't cut his finger off.

My parent did point out rnging me would have been safer. He was too embarrassed

DangerousAlchemy · 07/12/2023 07:52

IsAnybodyListening · 06/12/2023 10:17

Prior to covid, I came home from work to find both DC's sitting in a dark house with lighted candles, both completely forlorn over a power cut.
There was no power cut. Apparently they came home and asked Alexa to turn on the lights and TV, unbeknownst to them the Alexa was unplugged and for about 2hrs neither of them thought to just physically turn a light on.

Oooh now that is hilarious @IsAnybodyListening 😂 👏

Lochness1975 · 07/12/2023 07:53

Ds has a middle name and double barrel surname. When completing his UCAS application he put the first surname as a middle name. I asked why as it was his surname. He said well in school they call me by my last name- I thought that was my surname. Had to show him his birth certificate as proof that I wasn’t lying to him. He’d only had that name his whole 17 1/2 years…

Sparehair · 07/12/2023 07:56

my Dc get a school bus but I have to drop them at the collection point which is a carpark that floods quite badly in heavy rain, like today

Me: wow it’s massively flooded today- make sure you walk round the front of the bus as there’s a huge puddle at the back

DS13: walks straight through the puddle in ankle deep water and then looks at me as if to say “ why didn’t you warn me”

SisterhoodNotCisterhood · 07/12/2023 08:03

I was a teen back in the 90's and I swear, my best friend would never have made it out alive if I hadn't have been her friend. The number of times her wacky ideas or "solutions" made my eye twitch at the stupidity was
Incredible. Boiling noodles in a kettle is definitely the least she would do. Plastic in ovens or using a glass for a cuppa because she hadn't washed up in over a week and had nothing clean left is definitely the type of things she'd do. I learned young that some of us are born with common sense and others? They have other qualities. She was my best friend and made of pure sunshine who lit lives up around her. Just....... not the sharpest tool in the toolbox.

femfemlicious · 07/12/2023 08:15

WOW...reading this, maybe I'm expecting too much from my almost 13 year old😭😭😭

KimberleyClark · 07/12/2023 08:24

Coaster99 · 07/12/2023 04:58

DS making a milky chocolate drink. Placed spoonfuls of choc powder into a cup and then tipped milk straight into new 1kg tub of choc powder.

Good grief, I could’ve throttled him.

I've done similar when I was about 40. Making coffee, opened new pack of ground coffee, tipped the whole lot into the cafetiere instead of the coffee storage jar.

lolabear1243 · 07/12/2023 08:45

What's my name? Hahaha... Skint that's your name 🤣

NetZeroZealot · 07/12/2023 08:56

Fightarealfire · 06/12/2023 23:33

I’ll admit to being an ignoramus… why is kerb a verb in the sentence ‘run the car into the kerb’? Isn’t ‘run’ the verb and ‘kerb’ still a noun? What am I missing?

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I kerbed the car yesterday.

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 08:57

Invisimamma · 06/12/2023 09:42

Mine is only 13 and I'm wondering how much worse it gets from here...

We got a new kitchen, a few weeks later he asked where the bin is, so he hadn't used the bin for 3 weeks.

Projectile vomited over the living room because he vaped too much and made himself ill 🤮. Hopefully learned his lesson.

When he is given money he will spend every last penny rather than save the change for another day e.g. buying two KFC meals and eating them both instead of just getting one meal and saving the rest of his money for something else.

Dp and I went away for the weekend, leaving grandparents in charge, ds didn't change his pants the whole time we were away...4 days! Grandparents didn't think to check as it's kind of a basic thing you expect 13yr olds to shower and change their underwear.

Is this normal? We're completely exasperated with it.

Your 13 year old is VAPING?????

CornedBeef451 · 07/12/2023 09:02

Turns out DD thought her middle name was Barbar like the elephant rather than Barbara like DH's grandma.

She was only about 10 and it was our fault for not clarifying but it was quite sweet she was happy being named after an elephant!

She is 15 now and very bright but the stupid questions and inability to see things right in front of her is driving me mad!

This morning was full of drama as there was "NO BREAD!" for packed lunches. Apart from the part baked baguette I baked last night for her, that she ate some of, in the clear container, right in front of her, centimetres away from her lunchbox.

Added to this is 12yo DS who is losing the ability to speak in anything other than a monotone, can't control his limbs and recently had to be coached through the steps involved in showering adequately.

He now has to have short hair as the only way to stop him smelling like damp dog.

I also recently realised he hasn't actually washed his face in years so now every day I have to do a checklist of what has or hasn't been washed adequately.

He does smell better though and his spots are much improved.

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 09:07

Invisimamma · 06/12/2023 16:10

I am well aware of the dangers of vaping, I actually work in public health policy, specifically smoking cessation and tobacco control so I am more aware than most. The irony is not lost on me. I absolutely support a ban of flavoured and disposable vapes.

I don't condone or encourage vaping at all, but he's a 13yr old who takes risks and makes mistakes. We've talked it through but I can't keep him locked up and control his every move, he needs to make his own decisions and face the consequences.

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Do you allow him to ride a motorbike, or go to the pub alone? I'm going to guess not, he is a child, and yes you should be controlling his access to vaping

CharlotteBog · 07/12/2023 09:07

Your 13 year old is VAPING?????

You've heard the news I presume? Young teenagers taking up or trying vaping has increasing hugely. The government are clamping down younger people being able to buy them.

My own teenager tried it at 13. He's turning into a gym rat now and found a better group of friends, so hopefully he'd done with it.

ButterCupPie · 07/12/2023 09:10

Fightarealfire · 06/12/2023 23:33

I’ll admit to being an ignoramus… why is kerb a verb in the sentence ‘run the car into the kerb’? Isn’t ‘run’ the verb and ‘kerb’ still a noun? What am I missing?

Show quote history

I think they mean something like 'I kerbed the car and now I need not only a tyre but a new wheel and some other parts that got bent'.

Northernladdette · 07/12/2023 09:12

When my son was 21 he applied for a passport and didn’t know which box to tick for marital status as he wasn’t single but “in a relationship” 😂😂

ButterCupPie · 07/12/2023 09:14

PuttingDownRoots · 07/12/2023 07:45

This is my brother at 19yo. Studying for his MMath at Durham, pretty much a genius.

Was doing some DIY. Decided to see if his finger would fit through the whole on the workbench. Well It did.. but wouldn't come out again. He then had to chose between ringing me at school (about 30 minutes away, I was do A levels) or trying to saw the bench to get his finger out. He chose th saw option and fortunately didn't cut his finger off.

My parent did point out rnging me would have been safer. He was too embarrassed

The fire brigade had to come to an office building where I worked because a woman had put her finger into a metal tube that was part of her desk support and couldn't get it out again. There used to be a rubber plug but it had fallen out.

Original poster

TeenagedTwit · 07/12/2023 09:14

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 08:57

Your 13 year old is VAPING?????

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Where have you been? Vaping is an epidemic amongst young people. It has exactly been aggressively marketed at kids. We are raising a new generation of nicotine addicts and it is the collective cynicism of governments who have spawned this health crisis.

Good luck trying to punish a child out of trying something that is thrust at them every way they turn, and that turns them into addicts faster than you can shepherd them through a fortnight of sulking.

OP posts:

Invisimamma · 07/12/2023 09:14

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 09:07

Do you allow him to ride a motorbike, or go to the pub alone? I'm going to guess not, he is a child, and yes you should be controlling his access to vaping

Show quote history

He did a stupid thing, tried it once, puked and as far as I know hasn't done it again.

How exactly do you physically prevent a teen from accessing these things? They're everywhere, his access to money is controlled, it was bought by a friend. He has to go to school, I can't be by his side all day every day.

He's a good kid, he plays football, very bright, never in any trouble at school, it was one slip up we've all done it. Not ideal but kids aren't perfect and will take risks. All we can do is talk to them about the risks and hope they make the right decisions but still be here when they inevitably make mistakes.

Some people on this thread must live in a nice little bubble with their perfect kids that have never done anything silly.

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 09:16

TeenagedTwit · 07/12/2023 09:14

Where have you been? Vaping is an epidemic amongst young people. It has exactly been aggressively marketed at kids. We are raising a new generation of nicotine addicts and it is the collective cynicism of governments who have spawned this health crisis.

Good luck trying to punish a child out of trying something that is thrust at them every way they turn, and that turns them into addicts faster than you can shepherd them through a fortnight of sulking.

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You could say the same about alcohol! Especially this time of year. Its called parenting

Readingineading · 07/12/2023 09:21

My DB has just reminded me of my own .........
Aged 15, impromptu cricket game one sunday while his uni friends were visiting our village. Needed a fielder so I was drafted in.
Ball flying towards me , I panicked, DB shouted " use your head " - meaning , he told me afterwards, get your hands ready to catch. I headed it like you would a football. Knocked myself clean out. Woke to find a crown of his uni friends around me and DB crying that he'd killed his sister. 😆
( I was slightly concussed and had a raging headache for a day or so)

Fraaahnces · 07/12/2023 09:22

@willowtalk The prescription for a vape in Australia is absolutely not a thing. They’re trying to make them illegal despite new vape shops opening up daily - right near schools.

Tooshytoshine · 07/12/2023 09:22

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 09:16

You could say the same about alcohol! Especially this time of year. Its called parenting

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You have no idea of the scale of vaping. Alcohol is regulated by licensing.

It's always the strictest parents that kids hide the most from - it is much better to parent with a silk glove than an iron fist. We confiscate dozens of vapes each week from kids in y7 upwards. They can just buy them from corner shops. Their parents are generally lovely, not permissive and only want the best for the children. Vapes need better regulation.

CharlotteBog · 07/12/2023 09:28

BobDylansMasterpiece · 07/12/2023 09:16

You could say the same about alcohol! Especially this time of year. Its called parenting

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And the teenagers helping themselves to the drinks cabinet or getting drunk at parties are the results of terrible parenting?

SinnerBoy · 07/12/2023 09:29

borntobequiet · Today 07:01

When I was a form tutor in secondary school, I was surprised by how many children didn’t know their addresses...

My full name, address and phone number were drummed into me before I started infant school. My daughter was five when she could reel it all off; actually, she also knew both of our mobile numbers. I played a game, where she'd get a reward when she got it right.

flowerchild2000 · 07/12/2023 09:30

Tooshytoshine · 07/12/2023 09:22

You have no idea of the scale of vaping. Alcohol is regulated by licensing.

It's always the strictest parents that kids hide the most from - it is much better to parent with a silk glove than an iron fist. We confiscate dozens of vapes each week from kids in y7 upwards. They can just buy them from corner shops. Their parents are generally lovely, not permissive and only want the best for the children. Vapes need better regulation.

Show quote history

It was the same thing with cigarettes when we were kids. Myself and my friend group were regular smokers at 12. Our parents were doctors, nurses, librarians, etc. They had no idea either. I was the tame one in my group- the rest of them were drinking and smoking weed too. Back then it was easy to get cigarettes under age, just like vapes are easy to get now.