Tell me what your post-GCSE teenager does all day

[outofofficeagain]

I'm very laid back. DC has worked hard and they deserve a rest. I'm not very draconian about chores either.

But it's been nearly a month now and it's beginning to wear a bit thin, even though finding a proper job has proven difficult, despite trying.

So what does you teen do all day.

Do you make them get up at a certain time?
Jobs around the house?
Pay them for jobs around the house?

I'd like some kind of bell curve on what's reasonable.

I thought she’d drive me mad doing nothing all day but all her friends have got jobs so it’s pushed/ shamed her into getting one as well. I was shocked. She seems to be quite enjoying it too 🤔

Mine did 20 hours plus a week at a large retailer. Also did Reading festival

Mine is a gymnast and it’s the thing she loves most in the world so she’s upped her training hours to 20+ per week (she had to cut back during exams). She’s working 6-8 hours per week coaching rec gymnasts and doing some admin for her club.

The rest of the time she goes to the lido or park with friends, a couple of days out like Thorpe Park.

No desire to go on holiday or to festivals because it means missing gym.

She makes a helluva mess but she will walk the dog, empty the dishwasher etc while I’m at work.

She seems pretty happy!

It's been 3 weeks. Itook him a good 2 weeks to decompress. He's been to a couple of 6th form/college taster days. He's also bern back to school for music lessons a couple of times. Prom. Got the bus into town to meet his mates once. This week he's been more responsive to doing tasks around the house - take bottles to bottle bank, get some milk.

If I'm wfh, i start hassling him to get up about 11am. Like me, he's a night owl when left to his own devices. I'd like him to attempt cooking. I really pees me off when I'm trying to finish something and everyone is expecting me to cook tea too.

Where have they got jobs?
We're probably too country bumpkini here for anything here.

Mine has been sleeping in, doing workouts, going to her hobby, baking, going out with friends, prom etc. We have two holidays and some family birthdays coming up. Results day will be here before we know it!

3 years ago my daughter finished her GCSEs on the Friday and started a full time job at a local theme park on the Saturday.

She bagged the job a few weeks before but couldn’t start till she sat the last exam. She wanted the job, she wanted to be making money for herself and she worked her arse off all summer and when she turned 17, she had enough money to get herself driving lessons.

It’s what they want at the end of the day. We didn’t push our daughter, she made the decisions for herself. Once the money started rolling in, there was no stopping her.

We’re out in the sticks too. Quite a few of them are working at a large local stables/ livery yard, a couple for a gardening company. DD is working at a local farm, mostly in the farm shop.

Gaming, going to the gym, hanging out with friends in park, gardens, few parties, painted his room, a week's work experience.

I was encouraging him to get a job but he wasn't keen to look during GCSE's and anecdotally locally those who did try struggled to find anything. We're away for a couple of weeks and he may go and visit grandparents on both sides for a few days too.

As long as he doesn't spend endless days mooching in the house I am OK with it.

DC2 finished GCSEs, had the Y11 prom then went straight into a week-long instructing course for their sport. It's the final stage of a process that's involved various other courses and qualifications over the past year but I don't think DC2 expected it to be quite so full-on - it was 9-5 and the evenings were spent preparing sessions and presentations for the following day. Assessment was on the Friday and DC2 is now fully qualified which will help with securing paid work although not necessarily this summer. The second week was spent in show rehearsals and performances so this week is the first one that has really had any downtime. There's been a lot of reading of books and some fairly unenthusiastic performing of chores. Today was spent volunteering at a place related to their sport, tomorrow is back at school for a music thing and next week they're off to stay with grandparents. By the time they've been on a music trip, helped on sports camp and been away with us, there we'll be halfway through August.

Not 16 until the end of July, so gym (but needs a lift), hanging with friends and preparing for the holiday we’re going on this weekend

mine is the same as yours OP
not doing much at all
we are going on holiday later this month so only a few weeks left of not-doing-anything

Doing a part time job with husband, still cooks for us once or twice a week. Can't deal with lazing about. It's not how real life works.

Hobby group
Seeing gps/doing jobs for them
Crafting
Watching tv
Reading
Playing on their PC and switch
Seeing friends

We were on holiday last week but he’s been seeing his girlfriend, playing golf, going to cadets and working. He actually starts a second job tomorrow working in a pub kitchen. He currently works for a lady who has a catering business. He’s worked there for a year now but the shifts are ad-hoc depending on what bookings they have so he wanted some more work. He loves cooking (does all of the cooking in our house!) so he enjoys it.

My daughter was quite keen to find herself a
summer job. She found a job as a dog walking assistant and is really enjoying it and happy to be earning some ££! She was up and out at 7:15am this morning as she had a 2 hour group walk to do before the weather got too hot!
She goes to the stables to ride her horse
and most weekends she’s out competing with her horse.
She also meets up with friends, has a concert to go to and she will be going to the Reading festival!
She will also have a day where she wants to lounge in her bed and be on her phone.

Mine isn't at this age yet, but when I finished my GCSEs I stayed with a relative for two weeks doing work experience on a dairy farm and then stayed two weeks at a dressage yard where they provided accommodation for some more work experience. After that I worked full time as a domestic assistant (cleaner!) in the hospital where I already had a part time job.

Sorry if I’ve missed this but is he going to college/sixth form in September? Do you have to do that now? (Showing my age haha)
if he is, I really wouldn’t worry about what he’s doing. I remember the summer after my GCSE’s I just wanted to see friends and relax after being in full time education for so long. I was going to sixth form in the September though.

My DD sometimes has a lay in til 11, she’ll just get up and read or watch tv. She usually likes to spend time making herself a nice lunch. She’ll peg the washing out whilst I’m at work but I haven’t asked much of her tbh. She hasn’t really looked for a job, she thought about one but I haven’t pushed for her to get one, she’s 16, she has her whole adult life to spend working so I’m ok with having some down time whilst still a child and before college starts in September

My DS is taking it pretty easy and tbh I'm not too worried about it. He's helping (begrudgingly sometimes) around the house, garden and allotment. Visiting his Nan and helping her out with what she needs. Otherwise he's out with mates or lazing in the pit of oblivion!! We're off on holiday for 2 weeks in August. He's off to join the Army as a junior soldier in September, so will be leaving home. We're all taking our last long summer holidays together.