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Teenagers

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

Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why

77 replies

fryalot · 10/06/2007 14:55

Has she eaten ALL the biscuits again?

Are the rest of the family never allowed to have a biscuit? Ever?

Do I have to go back to hiding them in the freezer?

Why did I believe her when she said that she would ask before eating the biscuits?

Why why why why why?

Anyone want to buy a teenager? Comes with free diet regime (you'll never eat biscuits again!)

OP posts:
catsmother · 15/06/2007 22:34

I totally agree with Carmenere, and I also have a 17 year old 6 foot dustbin/neanderthal in the house. He knows what he can help himself to without asking - which basically boils down to fruit and the occasional bit of "kindheartedness" on my part when I offer him carte blanche grazing - usually something I've found I don't like myself, or something near its use by date !

If he asks, he'll probably get a yes about 50% of the time, so it's not like I'm a complete witch, but on the other hand, I'm not having him eating anything that's not nailed down to the detriment of everyone else, or effectively hoovering up £10 worth in half an hour, or leaving me without stuff I'd planned to use for a meal or in a recipe.

He knows "the rules", or he should do. In the past, I have had him pay me back for large quantities of stuff he's guzzled - especially so when he's denied doing it (but easy to prove as he never empties his bin, and also tends to stuff rubbish under his mattress !) because he needs to learn consideration for the rest of us, and appreciate that he is not living in a hotel with a free mini-bar. Apart from screaming at him, I have also had him pay in kind - by hoovering the whole house, or by grounding him.

Maybe I'm being too hard .... but I simply don't have the money to keep a limitless supply of treats in stock, and can't possibly plan meals if stuff goes missing. He's still not perfect - the teenage greed/thoughtlessness gene must be too powerful - but much better than he was. You just have to keep on (and on) and make them suffer in some way each time they do it.

It's also improved since he got a Saturday job in Starbucks, as he brings home all the out of date & unsold cakes, paninis etc !!!

bookwormmum · 15/06/2007 22:55

My mum never bought biscuits for years as we used to eat them all. There's a strange sort of logic in there .

FWIW, my brother used to be the sort of person who'd consume all the available food in the house, regardless of when the shops opened or what thing might be being saved for. I can't imagine how he'd have coped on a student budget - no one else in his flat would have had any food as he'd simply eat it all if he was hungry .

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