to want to run away from my teenagers even though they are 'good'

[ButterflyMcQueen]

they just annoy me so much

they are so arrogant

every sentence has 'you know' in it

they smirk at me

they raise their eyes at me

ds1 does these gopping dancy movements when i bollock him that just means 'i dont really care'

they are so far up their own arses it must HURT!!!!

everyone else thinks they are nice ........ i just dont really LIKE them atm

I find my 15 yr old and 13 yr old cousins unbearable at the moment. I feel like slapping them very hard around the face every time they flick their hair and say 'innit'.

i thought it would be fun being a teen parent but it is not!

is it just this generation or is it just my kids ?? the ARROGANCE is revolting!

...I was once lecturing my dad about something and he turned round and said "you are talking rubbish. The problem is, you are 18, and you think you know it all, but you don't. Only when you are many years older, will you realise how little you knew at 18. I was daft as a brush at 18 and the scary thing was, I thought I knew it all. Looking back I'm amazed I lived to be the age I am when I think about how little I knew back then."
I look back now and think "The bastard was SO RIGHT!"
DH takes this approach "You are 16 in X months time. If we are so crap, you can then legally leave us and set up house on your own. It will be a great relief to us all I'm sure."

My 13 yo niece lost her watch while she was visiting so I lent her my watch, which she complained was not "lush" or some such, so I turned round and said "if my £100 designer Nike sports watch is not pleasing to you, feel free to leave it behind and rely on public clocks while you are out!"

Twas ever thus I think. I remember having to translate something by Pliny the Younger (I think) from Latin (written at least 2000 years) about how disrespectful the youth of today were (back then obviously).

My 13 yr old daughter is trying at the moment... 14 yr old is "still" fine (although have clearly just jinxed him). Mind you, the 10 yr old is almost worse.

I love my children, I do I do. It's just that I dream of running away to a Tuscan hilltop citadella quite a lot. Is that so wrong of me?

Or Gascony, or near Marseilles or Avignon or somewhere. Orange! Grasse, even better!

I am about to have yet another fight discussion with my 17yr DD when she appears in from school about the pigsty bedroom she sleeps in.
How she can stand the smell I dont know

< shuffles up and orders another cappucino and pastry for riven >

I told my son at 15 that if he didn't leave home to go to university at 18 I was going as I couldn't stand the rows anymore.

I have to say that the only way to get through it (I have a ds of 33, ds 31 and dd 15) is to realise that they will leave home one day and at about 25 the boys did turn into reasonable adults. Dd has never been as bad as the boys.

maryz - I do the escape to my room thing too. And my eldest is only 11.

Oh yes the eye raising thing gets my goat too! DD1 also does this little head shake thing as if to say "are you stupid or what?"

She is nearly 12. Previously the most polite well mannered child you could wish to meet. Now she shoves people out of the way and expects to have her demands met instantly without any please or thankyou. SHe has more tantrums now than she ever did as a toddler and I feel like I am am walking on eggshells all the time waiting for an explosion. SHe is SOOOOOO sensitive every little comment turns into world war three.

Never thought she'd say it but we had the first (of many I'm sure) "I hate you!" last weekend.

Oh God and she's only 11! How long does it last?

I don't like her very much at the moment- I want my little girl back.

I don't like the teenage stage! However once they get through it you get your lovely DC back! I hated being a teenager myself! 13-18 is the worst.

I am soooo glad it's not just me, go three teen girls 13, 15 16, what a total nightmare!!!!!!

OK had the fight discussion re the bedroom and reminded DD that we had just bought her a £350 laptop therefore she should be a bit more helpful in return.
What was her answer?
Everyone else in her class has had a laptop or computer in their bedroom for at least the past 2 years and I was to consider myself lucky that I hadnt had to fork out for one before now.
Anyone want to swap?

omg thanks for replies will read now!

MaryZ just read yours and YES YES YES that 'calm down ' bit x100

OMG 13-18 is the worst!!!

She's only 11 so I have another 7 years of this!

my kids are tiny so I have no idea what you are all talking about... but I have some mad idea you can reason with teenagers - am I wrong? Of course I am but is it impossible? Should I hide?

shit! just realised that sounded like advice posed as a question - it was just a question!!!

i love the little ones Padboz

they do as they are told

when they get to 4 you can reason with them

they lose this ability at 12 ( teeth gritted !)

When your children reach around 13 years old the aliens come and take them in the night. They leave a substitute in their place but this is not your child. It's a grunting, moaning, hairy thing that you do not recognise. They are just there one morning dissing you across the kitchen table. One day, about 5 years later, your lovely child miraculously reappears and all will be well.

In the meantime the golden rule is to pick your battles. Don't argue about every little thing; save it for that which is illegal, immoral or annoying the neighbours.

Red wine (well alcohol of any description) helps. Trust me.