Support thread for parents of multiple teenagers.

[alistron1]

I have 3 teenagers, they are 13 (boy) 14.5 (girl) and 15.5 (girl) I shall mostly be talking about:

Food - how much do they sodding eat?

The fact that they are sullen introverted beasts whenever you want to go somewhere or do something - but as SOON as you sit down to watch something that YOU would like to see on YOUR tv they rock up and witter at you nonstop about various fascinating topics ( "Have you heard about X who's got this amazing youtube channel, it's hilarious..." "You know my friends neighbours aunts cousins daughter, well she....." "I made this awesome axe on minecraft....")

The constant sneering derision about my life/clothes/interests but if my stuff isn't nailed down it gets 'borrowed'.

The many and varied prima donna moments over the most trivial of things " Where are the black tights, I HATE you, you're controlling and you've got me under house arrest..."

Their pits aka bedrooms aka health hazards

The fact that if I need a charger for something or my headphones they have been appropriated

And finally, that unlike toddlers they are in your face until nearly bloody midnight!!

And with 3 of them there is a non stop caravan of hormones, drama, requests for cash, hormones, tantrums, hormones.

I think that's about it for now.

That's distressing. I've heard over a few years how expensive the insurance is going to be, but I hadn't realised they'd started charging ridiculous amounts just to get a provisional licence !

Oh was the provisional not the lessons still expensive though eh DD1 insurance was more then we paid for her car we got hers from Diamond was the cheapest

Thanks for the tip mrsj

I'm just completely sleep-deprived, like when they were babies. Mine are older teens and seem to have a rolling 24 hour existance during the holidays - one is up, rattling about, doing God knows what until gone midnight, another comes in from clubbing at 4.30am with friends who have toast and finally go to bed at 5.00am. My alarm goes off at seven to get up and go to work while my kids and their friends sleep blissfully until lunchtime.

I so need this thread right now....i have shut myself in my bedroom as i speak

3 ds 15, 13 and 10......and i have to say the 10 yr old is the worst of the lot, hence why im in my bedroom- its either hide or i WILL throttle him with my own bare hands

Oh god. I thought I could cope. I thought it would be easier now they're 13 and 15 but 2 weeks in and I totally flipped.

I tried to suggest that instead of Xbox, Facebook and other screens it might be a good idea to break the day up with some actual movement where you use your legs and everything. But both Dss insist there's nothing else to do. So... I fall into the trap of suggesting (increasingly desparately and with me coughing up the cash of course) swimming, basketball, football in park with mates, day's skiing at the sno centre, dog walk with mate, shopping, baking, playing guitar, climbing centre, camping.. The response to each ......'nah.That would be rubbish'. Until I am finally tipped over the brink.

So, suddenly I find myself throwing a major full on toddler teen-style tantrum, with tears , swearing, incoherent ranting, snot -the lot . I grab every laptop, Xbox controller, and ipod I can lay my hands on and chuck them in the car. Then I drive off with screechy tyres and the vague plan of taking it all to a charity shop or tip.

And then of course I can't sit in the car round the corner all night and I'm hungry and bored and they know fine well I wasn't really going to give away their stuff - so I have to go home again.

And they are adult about it - kind and gentle and apologise to me. And I am the stroppy teenager.

How do they do it?

Thanks for the tip mrsj

your welcome Dh searched all the insurance companies and found the cheapest some of them were laughable what they wanted to insure a little fiesta. although hers is cheaper than her boyfriends he is a year older and been driving longer,

This thread I'd soooo reassuring , I thought I was on my own.I have 3 dses ;18,15 and 10. Food is literally inhaled and the mess they just don't seem to see it.ds1 is apparently clearing out his room , which effectively means that the contents are now on the landing

Ds2 cannot be convinced into the shower without a major argument and would live on biscuits given half a chance

For insurance , can recommend Insurethebox, or LV

We are decorating. I have discovered today how much noise/dust/discomfort a teenager can take whilst sitting on their arse in a bomb site charging up an iPod and watching the Olympics. It's a lot.

Slam bang, they are evil geniuses. They push our buttons to the max and then blindside us with the 'real' them.

Just in from work. Neither of the DC are in. Where are they? No flipping idea.

And they left a huge pile of dishes undone in the sink.

I may have to kill them later.

Apparently he now hates me because I had the temerity to ask him to move the stuff off the landing.

we've had random acts of swearing and violence today. Because we refused to redecorate the room in brown. Yes, brown. I said no, go for neutrals. But I was wrong. and evil. ANd skinflint. ANd to add insult to injury, I have been telling her to clean her room for over a week, including all her kit brought back from camp last week. Her room stinks. evil mummy, how dare I not call in the cleaning fairies!

SO as revenge, she really, really hurt her brother. He's had an injury that has required extensive physiotherapy over 14 weeks. so she hurt him by twisting the affected limb until he screamed in agony, and cried for a full 5 minutes. Fuck knows what damage has been done. He's now on voltarol. She is all agrieved because Ive grounded her for a week and taken away all screen time for a week.

i really do not like her right now.

A week , I'd have gone for 14 and made her go to the drs with . Honestly what gets into them.You poor thing.

Hope your ds is feeling better

Been away for a week on a music course. Had a mostly fab family time. Only slightly marred by 19yr old tantrums about " not having the right thing to wear" (ummm you gave me the stuff to pack I packed it, We are CAMPING and you have 3x as many outfits as the rest of the family anyway....and I'm not even sure WHO she was trying to impress anyway!)

Moderate amounts of inter sibling bickering/winding each other up.

13yr old fine when away but completely foul the moment we got home (that'll be staying up till midnight most nights thinking you are 19..)

Most annoyingly for me, the 19ur old having been away, feels that she can challenge everything now with " we really don't argue much at all, you should hear X and her sister" and "well at uni we don't have to ask before we eat stuff that someone else has put in the cupboard, it's all fair game" (as it I bought sweets and now there is the outer wrapper of a multipack of 5 still in the cupboards fooling me into thinking there are still some there, or why the flying F*ck have you eaten, whist slobbing round the house, a weeks supplu of indicidually wrapped muffins intended for packed lunches without telling me!)

She will suddenly wake up next year- this year the stuff in the uni kitchen was snacky crap as they were fully catered. Next year she'll be catering fir herself- the buns for packed lunches will be hers, and if they are eaten,SHE will create hell herself ,and then resort to keeping her own food under the bed as is normal at uni......

Maryz that final sentence just sums it up
perfectly

Well, both sets of exam results will be here in just over 17 hrs. You could cut the atmosphere here with a knife. They have both been off school for 6 weeks already and this is the most silence I have enjoyed since then....

Can I join.
I have yesterday become the mother of teenaged twins! One of each sex.

And yes, I am dreading a double set of GCSEs, A levels etc. Aaaaaagggghhhh...

Same here Katie....results tomorrow, although thanks to my EXCELLENT plan (hahahahahah) it is just middle teen, no double whammies for me with exams

although it is spread out longer, at least is it just the one of them at high alert!

How are the stress levels in the Cathouse, Catsmamma ?

They are back next week and I've still only got half of the uniform shizz they need. I never even considered your excellent plan, just shows what baby brain does "OK, great idea DH, we'll get upduffed again now, DD is 6 months now, it'll be Fiiiiinnnnneeeeeee!"

Word , of course!

2 teens here , DS (17)
Learning to drive is so expensive ! He has a 2 hour lesson each week , that costs £40 .
He didn't pass first time , so he's trying again in 3 weeks or so , and that's about £100 , with the test , the lesson before , and use of the car . I've insured him on my car for a month (£85 , with provisional marmalade ) but once he's passed the insurance for a year is over £1700 !

Why can't they talk ? He mumbles in a deep growl most of the time ,
Eats all the time ,
Grows all the time .
Why do they get so tall !

DD is nearly 15 , and so vain .
I don't understand how they can spend so much time and effort on their appearance , yet be happy to sleep in a room with used plates , pants and crumpled up clothes all over the floor.

I well remember the exams double whammy. Good luck to all of you with results coming up.
My 3 all away now, 19, 21, 23. When we see them where they are living, they are bright, active, delightful young people. As soon as they come home they revert - dressing gowns, food wrappings littered over the floor, all day on the settee with laptops plus TV with eeeendless rubbish American comedies, staying up till all hours etc..

Admiral best for car insurance for us - putting me and DH on as named drivers brought it down another £400