Teenage boys are great

[CrocsNotDocs]

They just are. They are like enormous Labrador puppies with gangly uncoordinated bodies and huge feet.

I love watching my son and his mates interact. They have this innate sense of fairness and decency and half the time they are little boys and the other half, something caught between boys and men. If you can surreptitiously listen to them, they will be big noting, exaggerating and bullshitting about all the great dangerous and fantastic things they will be doing until one of them looks at his enormous feet and reminds the others that they will have to ask their mum before partaking in whatever grand endeavour they have planned . Silence will follow in deference to the higher authority.

They smell and are kind and can lift incredibly heavy things. Their jokes are stupid and glorious and they laugh so loud. I love how their shoulders broaden overnight and they get hairy and awkward. I love how they are terrified of girls and then suddenly they aren’t.

They get a bad rap but the ones I know are just fab.

This thread made me remember that when I was pregnant (both times), teenage boys were by far the most likely group to give up a seat or hold a door open for me!

Some of my oldest friends' boys are now teenagers and they're, without exception, lovely. Mine is 11. Things are quite difficult with ND & MJ but I'm definitely getting glimpses of the lovely teen he's growing into.

I know this thread is about boys - I have two teen boys myself and concur with a lot of what’s been said (although not many, understandably, have posted with less positive ways teen boys can be. They’re certainly not all lovable Labradors, as crime stats and ‘Everyone’s Invited’ would prove. Generalising out to hundreds of thousands of teens is a bit odd).

I just wish teen girls didn’t get an even worse rap. When a mum with gender disappointment bemoans having a boy (or another boy) people will rush in to tell her how she’ll be spared the horror of a teen daughter. I also have a teen daughter and she and her friends are an absolute joy. Sometimes a wild ride but overall it’s been a blissfully happy one. She’s just as loving and kind and funny etc etc as all the boys described here.

@WomensRightsRenegade

We aren't talking about every boy in the world . We're talking about our own children.

Oh and there is a thread for the girls too

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5237774-teenage-girls-are-great?page=1

I love this thread! Boys often get bad rep here. I have two teens DS, 13 & 16 yo. Both are great and I love spending time with them. Since they were babies, I’ve taken them on my own to my home country for extended visits. Early years were hard work but they are now the most excellent travel buddies and I’ll be so sad when this comes to an end.

One is labrador like, tall and blonde with alpaca hair-do. The other one is smaller, more serious and very private. But loves a good chat in the car when there’s no pressure of direct eye contact. Both eat large quantities of food also!!

Having them has opened up a whole new world for me.

I've got a good feeling about the next gew generations of boys.. I think parenting has changed a lot, whats right and wrong has changed a lot and I hope we will see less sexist, pervy, useless, aggressive men in years to come.

I think this thread is full of families who protect and nurture the lovely soft sweetness of lads, without forcing them to suppress their feelings and be hard.

My DS13 is very much the same, pretending to roll his eyes when I insist on reading The Night Before Christmas, then quietly curling up under my arm to share a blanket and see the pictures.

And he makes sure to take little things like fidget spinners or an interesting flower to family gatherings to show his 4 year old cousin who worships him.

This thread is a joy to read, and is exactly what the phrase "boys will be boys" should be about. Well done OP.

Oh you made my cold heart warm up! He brings flowers!!

I absolutely love your opening post!! I have 3 (although one is just almost a teen) and yes they are bloody amazing!! Let's hear it for the boys ❤️

I have a 16 year old boy and agree with the labrador puppy analogy. He has grown so much in the last couple of years, it's almost as if he forgets how big he is sometimes with these massive size 11 feet. Eats like a labrador too.

He's a kind and funny boy, loyal to his friends of both sexes and very useful for getting stuff off high shelves for his mum. I do get why people are intimated when they see teenage lads walking in groups because they do look like big scary men, but they aren't in most cases.

I have to disagree though that the funniest thing is watching a teenage boy try to assemble flatpack. The funniest thing is watching him try to peg washing out on the line.

Awww what a lovely post.

My ds was 11 recently. I took him and some mates to the cinema, they had me in absolute stitches. Chatting away about christmas and santa. They are all 10/11 so just about too old to believe. They decided it was probably parents that make the magic happen BUT just incase it wasn't, were going to leave milk and cookies out anyway. And then were doing mental maths working out how many cookies santa would eat and if he burnt the calories off and how many seconds he has in each house etc.

Absolute adorable.

I have a 14 yo one and a 19 yo one, they are both fab human beings and I love being with them.

Funny, clever, considerate, a real credit to me and DH

Definitely 😂 They can turn the simplest task into such a big deal.

This is SUCH a lovely thread. I’ve one gorgeous 2 yr old boy (and won’t have any more kids) and come from a big family of girls.

Thank you everyone for sharing this thread full of love 🥰

Mine isn't quite a teen yet. But he's funny and clever and lovely. And interesting and infuriating. And we can share shoes already, he's developing the big feet