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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Top things your teenager boys do that annoy you

131 replies

Pythianlegumes · 28/09/2011 18:36

Just as the title says. I am writing a comedy about teenage boys, and a lot of the audience will be parents. I am aware of many of boy's shortcomings, but list your top ones in case I have left some out.

OP posts:
JosieGlow · 26/10/2011 23:35

Apparently it's really cool to wear your trousers low and your underpants high even if you are wearing tracksuit bottoms and slightly yellowing cricket jock briefs!

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 23:37

No, my darling boy is perfect in every way. He has no annoying habits, just delightful quirks that enable him to express his individuality.
The fault lies in others who do not appreciate this.

iffysquiffy · 27/10/2011 17:14

So pleased to read these posts thought I'd bred an alien - to add a few - slurps spaghetti, still needs reminding to brush teeth, wash, change under ware, winds up brother, MIL (sorry that's a good point), looses EVERYTHING!

FellatioNelson · 27/10/2011 17:16

Speaks almost entirely without consenants.

FellatioNelson · 27/10/2011 17:17

Actually, I have three teenaged boys (well, one is 12 so he sort of counts) but only the middle one does classically annoying teenaged things. The other two can be annoying for entirely different reasons.

FellatioNelson · 27/10/2011 17:21

Hahaha - Doiloo, I have had the Blackberry phone call demanding loo roll as well!

iffysquiffy · 27/10/2011 17:30

Melts stuff in the microwave - marshmallow gooey mess is the fav, jet washes the sheep in the field next door when supposedly washing the car.

IdontknowwhyIcare · 27/10/2011 17:33

Ds is lovely really reading some of these posts ....... But he will inset on shouting to make his point. Gd it drives me made. When I do the ignore thing (just like toddler whinging) he just keeps a raised voice till I surrender with a migraine. Grrr otherwise quite normal.

hilltoplady · 27/10/2011 22:06

Ha ha ha ha ha ha, yes, all of the above, glad it's not just ours. The only advantage of the low slung trouser look is that you can walk behind them down the street and say, in a nice loud voice, "Wow, you've had those pants on for four days now". Also, fiddling with his lip piercing (didn't see that one coming) and loosing the little round bit off the end. He's swallowed one while eating a Lion Bar, and last week I had to myopically screw it back on in the middle of a west end show. Urgh! Apologies to anyone looking on....

lovemyboysandbeagles · 01/11/2011 13:01

I think I have come on here too late as they have already all been said, but I agree with most of them.

This is my favourite:

Rings me ( using his blackberry which obviously is welded to his hand ) from the upstairs loo to tell me there's no loo roll and he needs some

Which I haven't come across yet but made me lauch so much :)

BerniW · 04/11/2011 17:54

16 yr old ds lingo:

Yo mumsy. You is g, fam. Safe.

Translation:

Hello mother. You are a marvellous member of the family/quite cool. Thanks and goodbye.

What ever happened to 1950s BBC-style English?!

FellatioNelson · 06/11/2011 16:04

I get called Mumsy as well. I was flattered at first - I thought it was a lovely term of endearment reserved just for me. And then I realised that Mumsy is a street word, and I am one of many mumsies. Sad

NicolaWorkHardPartyHarder · 17/12/2011 19:21

Aaah.At the moment I seem to never stop being annoyed with my DS (15).Makes me feel like such a bad mother:( But I love him.
1)Eats me out of house and home.Never stops eating.Junk food mainly, even with healthy,organic meals provided.
2)Never does anything that means he will have to get off the sofa,and actually do exercise,especially.
3)Makes jokes about his weight (he is quite 'chunky'...).Not sure why this annoys me so much.
4)IS so laidback,he's practically going backwards.

BrokenRing · 18/12/2011 12:56

"Makes extensive milkshakes using drinking chocolate, about half a bag of sugar and bananas, to serve to his friends."

Yes to this - using a 4 pint carton of milk, leaving milk and powdered chocolate all over the worktops and the blender to be washed, and the fridge door open (in fact all cupboard doors open). Realised this autumn he could make iced coffee the same way.

Wet towels, crumpled used clothes kicked into a corner of his cupboard.

Raiding the fridge for eggs and bacon fry-ups and using specific special ingredients the rest of the family would automatically know were for particular meals. You come to make tea and find the key special ingredient missing and he says he didn't think anyone wanted to use it.

Refusing to wear earphones and inflicting his music on the rest of the household.

dmo · 18/12/2011 14:06

My boys are 14 and 15 and as different as can be
15 yr old has 2 showers a day, his room is clean, does all his homework, A* sudent and not gay Grin
14yr old never washes, lives in the dark, plays on PC all day, always getting text/ letters home to say homework not done, never had a gf, never puts any clothes in the wash, his room is a tip, never has bedding on his bed and is a total pig Angry

But 15yr old never ever does his chores for me and the 14yr old does his every day

RattusNorvegicus · 18/12/2011 14:49

Is 6ft3 and eats constantly. Rest of his mates spend money on beer, he came home with a George Foreman grill. Never puts credit on phone. Is always, and I mean always, attached to a guitar. Refers to any drama on tv as 'Bonnets', (I'm a Jane Austen fan) will walk out in disgust at anything he thinks bonnety (Downton Abbey). Has a laugh like Sid James which reverberates round the house when South Park and Family Guy are on.Has not read a book since he was about 10, which infuriates me. And has unfeasibly large banana boat feet, there are currently 7 pairs of footwear in the hall for me to fall over.

mathanxiety · 20/12/2011 00:15

Can't find anything to eat in a fridge whose shelves are groaning under the weight of groceries.
Manages to eat humongous quantities of food all the same.
Generates incredible amounts of laundry daily.
Not much of a flusher (but puts the seat and lid down, so you open it all up and never know what you're letting yourself in for a lot of the time).
Considers loud farting something to be really, really proud of.
Huge feet - there is no larger size. If they grow any more he will have to get custom made shoes or wear roasting pans.

I really miss him now he's away in university .

Janni · 20/12/2011 00:57

What a therapeutic thread!

-I have one I can't get out of the shower and one I can't get in it
-One who puts absolutely everything for washing and one who has to be prised out of his sweaty clothes
-They both put empty cartons back in fridges and empty packets back in cupboards
-Tell you you're nagging when you ask them more than once to do the thing they haven't done but blame you when they haven't done what they needed to do for school eg revision/homework/get up on time etc etc
-Have an answer for everything eg the reason kids went out more when I (mum) was young was because there was nothing interesting to do at home

argghh · 20/12/2011 02:33

The damp towles - that made me laugh.

Yep all of the above and the 'Oh dont worry' To every question.

But just spent a very funny evening with teenage son and his friend watching silly films and chatting - it is possible to have a conversation and a laugh with them - even if they do cost you a fortune in train fares and food.

chardom · 21/12/2011 09:50

My 13yo DS walks out of lounge in disgust when I want to watch 'grey pubes' TV, which is basically any programme he hasn't chosen!!

PattySimcox · 21/12/2011 10:13

Grin @ grey pubes

longlashes · 21/12/2011 16:31

Doesn't ever answer his mobile when he's out- ' The signal is weak there, mum'.
Has text me from upstairs saying bring us up a cup of tea Mum.
(Doesn't happen!)
Looses endless keys.
Has thick black curly hair and won't get it cut until it looks like there is a woolly mammoth sitting on his head!

longlashes · 21/12/2011 16:50

That was ds2 16, but ds 1 18 is very, different, spends ages doing his hair, hours in the shower but why is it everytime he is in the house there is this incessant vibrating loud music in the house.
Me- Turn it down, him - it's not loud, but he turns it down a bit. Then he goes downstairs leaving his bedroom door open and it is so loud, I am sure he must be deaf.
Then I think My god I sound just like my mother!.
I love them both dearly though they do have their good points Hmm well, some of the time.

shoddyandolder · 21/12/2011 16:52

The weak signal and the keys aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!

Slambang · 21/12/2011 17:09

Relate whole-heartedly to every post.

Ds (15) can genuinely hold an entire conversation with me without any word of it actually penetrating his brain.

Me: So what time are you meeting your friends, ds?
Him: uh? Oh, I dunno.
Me: Well, I'm going into town now so I could give you a lift if you want to come with me.
Him: Uh, yes ok
Me: Well come on, I'm leaving now.
Him: What?
Me: I'm leaving for town now. Are you coming?
Him: Where?
Me: to town
Him: Why are we going to town? I don't want to go.
Me: aren't you meeting your friends?
Him: Uh, what?
Me: s...i...g...h....