Experience needed - teenage boys

[notjustme]

We may be acquiring a lodger - he's just turned 19 and is just finding his feet in the world after a difficult few months.

Can anyone advise good starting points on making it a smooth and happy process - is it acceptable to set some small house rules, maybe regarding washing clothes (i.e. I won't go looking for them but if he puts them in the basket I'll wash them), dinner (i.e. I'll cook for him when I cook for us but won't be catering to him otherwise) - I don't want it to be a 'welcome to the house, here's a list of rules' but I do want him to know what we expect and what he can expect in return.

Any help much appreciated :)

Yes, I think that would be fine. We had an extra teen for a while while his dad worked abroad. Do you know him? You maybe want to mention that he should call if he's not coming home/going to be very late so you don't worry. Also, teenage boys eat A LOT. Buy loads of pasta and bread. Good luck!

decide if you want overnight guests or not.

How old are your dcs? We also had an extra teen for a few months, he was a year younger than my eldest ds so we tried to make sure he fitted in with the expectations I had for him.

Totally agree with Agent about the eating thing - I even started a thread on it, which had some very funny replies. Its impossible to fill them!!

I agree about not giving him a list of rules, but you need to be clear in your mind about what yu expect so that you can drip feed the information over the first couple of weeks. I imagine he will find t helpful to know what yu expect from him. Consider the following areas - use of the bathroom if he will share one, food, laundry and letting you know his plans. I assume you will not go in his room, so he will need to know that he needs to bring crockery out and that he is welcome to use the Hoover.