A guilty pleasure of mine continues to be reading the website, raisingteenstoday.com. This fun little nugget popped up this week.
It was a listing, titled Things No One Tells You About Raising Teenagers.
- You’ll go broke paying for groceries, braces, car insurance and new cell phones
- That your teen’s favorite responses will be, “I’ll do it later,” “I’m too tired,” “oh … I forgot,” and “Good.”
- That you’ll start missing them long before they move out.
- That they’ll be too freaking tired to do anything during the day, but too wired to sleep at night.
- You’ll spend 86% of your time driving them and their friends to Timbuktu.
- That they’ll develop a major hoodie and foodie obsession.
- That your mere existence could annoy or embarrass them.
- That you can’t you use proper punctuation when texting them or they’ll think you’re nagging or being salty.
- How sweet, funny and kind they are … when they want to be.
- That even though they drive you bonkers at times, one day you’ll wake up and realize they’re one of your very best friends.
I have some more to add to the list, so here goes.
- The answer is always “yes,” to is your room clean, but the reality is always far different until coercion.
- No matter how exhausted, they refuse to go to bed early in the summertime because they do not have school.
- Showering immediately after working out and getting off a shift at a restaurant is out of the question.
- Despite the rude treatment given to parents, you will hear constantly how well-mannered and polite they are to other people.
- Cursing one time around them will result in them thinking they have full license to do so anytime. This, I heard from a friend.
- Under absolutely no circumstances will they ever stand next to you at a concert. You may even see them standing by themselves across the way.
- A surefire way to get teens and their friends out of the pool is to lay on a lounge chair nearby.
- Discrimination is rampant when it comes to vegetables.
- When talk of leaving the house comes around, it’s best to ask a simple question: ‘are you ready to walk out the door right now?’ If the answer is yes, don’t believe it.
- Normal times to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner are not important.
- Some conversations take a turn to the ugly without any warning.
- Silence should not be reason for concern.
- When they are looking at their phones, there’s no reason to try and start a conversation.
- A breath test will truly determine if the teeth have been brushed.
- They will not want their pictures taken now, but they will later be glad to see how much they have changed over time.
- Boy/girl teen relationships are complicated and can change drastically from morning to night.
- Phone calls are the fastest way to get a hold of them, followed by text messages. Most teens don’t know how to reply to an email evidently.
- They are far more likely to try a new food for a stranger.
- You can never be prepared for exactly how uncool they can make you feel.
- Rides to and from wherever they want to go are more expected than appreciated.
- They hide their love.
- Teen siblings will pummel each other for no reason at all, but will stand up for each other no matter.
- Showers will average about 10 minutes depending on the level of their perceived exhaustion.
- Taking an Uber alone is a goal, but not paying for it.
- Manual labor around the yard is expected to be rewarded.
- Knocking and waiting a few seconds before opening a closed door is best for all.
- Relaxing at home involves pajama pants and no shirt.
- Giving advice is a surefire way to get the opposite choice chosen.
- If let on their own, packing for a trip will only involve clothes for one day.
- Nine times out of 10 you will just do it after getting so tired of waiting for the clothes in the dryer to get folded.
- Clothes will disappear every single day.
- Biking somewhere is always cooler than walking.
- Always empty pockets from their clothes because there could be surprises.
- It’s more likely than not they will not flush the toilet.
