What have you done to ruin your teenager's summer so far?

[NotDarkGothicMama]

I have:

• Woken DS up "too fast" to unload the dishwasher when I got home from work at 7pm.
• Locked down DD's phone after 3 hours of asking her to put away the vast array of dirty crockery, nail art supplies and dirty socks decorating the sofa.
• Booked a holiday in accommodation without a swimming pool.
• Arranged to take DS and DD on a work trip abroad with me.
• Refused to exclude DD from said work trip at DS's request.

How have you ruined your teenager's summer?

Signed her up for 2 hours per week of maths tutoring for 3 weeks to help with her very lacking and struggling maths skills and to identify the made issues before she goes into yr 11...... for the record these lessons are at 5pm so not an early start.....

suggested she helps with her DB's and a little around the house to earn extra money.......

Didn't check with her friends parents that we were all going on holiday over the same 2 week period so now she won't see her friend for 3 weeks 🙄

Told her despite it being her school holidays her weekday curfew is unchanged as me and DH still have to be in work.....

Made her tea (dinner) because she didn't tell me she wasn't eating at home and then refused to transfer money for chips & an energy drink (she needed this because I made her get up so early)

Booked their (2 younger ones inc) dental check up at 8am as this was convenient for me around my working hours....

not bad going tbh considering we are only a few days in..... the list will be endless by September

Taking them through Italy but they wanted all inclusive Turkey.

Told her the top she bought was the wrong size

There are some heartbreaking stories of teenage suffering on here - sending thoughts and prayers to these poor children. 😂😂😂

Ds3 asked to go to Wales this summer to do some hiking. We’ve booked to stay in Snowdonia for a few days and was then outraged we’re driving there and not taking a boat. He meant Ireland. In his defence, he is only ten!

I worn shorts..... out of the house! The embarrassment is too much to cope with apparently....

Came into her bedroom carrying a power drill and other tools to put up a display shelf she's been asking me to put up for ages. The display shelf remains un-put-up. I expect that will ruin her summer too.

I don’t have kids, but reading these has brought back memories of myself as a teenager and how unreasonable I was (15 years ago) 🤣

I distinctly remember being enraged if my mum bumped into anyone she knew at the local petrol garage and truly believing it was the epitome of selfishness to expect her precious child to have to bear waiting in the car for ten minutes whilst she said hello.

I remember thinking I was really hard done by when they said they couldn’t afford to pay £2,000 for a sixth form trip to the Philippines… they’d had no holiday themselves for a decade and the trip was later cancelled because no one else could afford it either given it was an east London state school.

I remember saying my mum “didn’t want me to have a life” because she didn’t want me getting a lift home from a party in a 17 year olds souped up Corsa at 3am. Mind you, I was allowed a lot of freedom, so long as I was reachable by text I could do mostly whatever…. She just drew the line at things that had a high probability of ending in death, how dare she!

Anyway, we’re the best of friends now. Hang in there folks 😁

booked an organised holiday in Spain for my teen and her friend (beach, waterpark excursion booked extra etc) then unreasonably insisted that she get up at 5 so as not to miss her flight.

Good Grief! Did you all behave like this with your parents when you were your kids age?! I would imagine not…

I really shouldn't have read this thread whilst having lunch ! There are crumbs everywhere and I can't seem to stop doing a credible impersonation of Dick Dastardly & Muttley. Mr HMP is giving me very strange looks! 😂

Existed.

Solidarity with you all.
I have asked questions about what she was doing with her day. DH has asked me to stop doing this as it's winding her up.
Offered any kind of advice or assistance without being directly asked. Offering a lift is not ok. Responding to a request for a lift is acceptable.
Joined in a conversation and said the wrong thing.
It's coming as a shock to me as previously we've had a very harmonious relationship and I am feeling as if I am on eggshells and not liking it very much at all.
I think she may have noticed that I am avoiding her as she actually asked if I was ok.

Refused to ley him eat dinner on the brand new sofa because he wanted to watch the football but was too hungry to wait and eat at the table at half time.

He could have made food any time prior to the football starting if he was hungry.

Told him to stop driving out at night to visit his girlfriend and friends at midnight or when the fancy takes him because it's affecting his black box reports and could make his car insurance more expensive (joint responsibility with the RAC)
Expected him to pay for his own car insurance now he's working
Only give him fuel money for work and not for every jolly he feels like taking

I just avoided mine as much as possible between the ages of 14 and 18. I'd much rather have a cheeky git who does actually like me and occasionally comes to hang out with me of his own volition and asks my advice on serious life stuff than a 'respectful' teenager who tells me nothing...

You are all terrible parents. Am howling sorry for your kids.

Yes I did, and I was born in 1971. I was a teen in the 80's and could sulk for hours. My mum is now in her 80's and we have a good relationship. Have to as I'm now her career and my Mum is more like a teen.

I didn't. But that's probably because my dad died just before my 14th birthday, so mum and I had other things to think about.

hth

After hosting an end of term ‘hangout’ and provided pizza and soft drinks, told said teens to be tidy because we had house sitters coming in the next day to look after their cats and the cleaner had just been. This was completely wild apparently

No but my parents just kind of let me get on with it and didn’t hassle me about GCSEs and stuff because back then you didn’t need to revise in your year 10 summer or get twenty 9’s to have a shot at a mid tier university and have any chance of getting a job. Also my mum was only 40 when I was 15 so still had some nurturing hormones left which probably helped our relationship a bit 😂.

Most of mine and ds’s clashes are because he’s completely unrealistic about what he needs to do to have a shot at any of the Jobs he’s interested in and I don’t want him living here forever because he finds that out too late.

Not my DC but I was sitting outside a local restaurant having lunch ( including wine) with friends . DGD15 and friend passed by so I waved and smiled
She has never been so embarrassed.

Eleven, so not quite a teenager but he has the attitude.

He phoned us this morning from his holiday with his grandma and said “its eleven and I’m still in bed, the world hasn’t ended” and then put the phone down. Reference to our nearly daily arguement on holiday in Canada as he had to be awake and ready early to do the things he had specifically asked to do.

Didn’t book our holiday flights in First Class.

Saturday job can’t offer extra hours over the summer—I suggested trying to get a job at the pub where their friend works.

I've ruined DS's summer by sending him to a school where they study To Kill a Mockingbird for GCSE English rather than something interesting. He now has to read the world's most boring book (his words) over the holiday instead of his manga/anime/comic book crap, and this is totally my fault for not looking at the syllabus 5 years ago. If anyone knows of a school where they study manga for English Lit, please let him know!