I’m raising 3 boys. One is a full blown teenager, the next is almost a teen and the last is not far behind. They are fun, loud, naughty, wild, aggressive, loving and loyal. But here’s a list of things I have noted so far in my motherhood journey*…
- Do not wake them with a voice too cheery and happy. A simple open the door and a monotone “good morning” is suffice.
- Do not speak to them about anything really important until after they have a full belly of food.
- Do not sing too loud or know too many words of the song or you’ll be asked to “get off the microphone.”
- Don’t talk too much about how cool you were when you were 19 years old. You weren’t ever cool.
- Don’t talk to the girls in their year for too long.
- Don’t sing in the car with their mates.
- Haircuts are not important.
- What they said they’d commit to today doesn’t mean they’ll follow through with it tomorrow. Just check with them an hour before.
- Dab, whip, nay-nay, running man, gangnam style dancing is over. No need to keep doing it.
- Don’t talk about their sporting abilities like you’ve been their coach for years.
- Crush their dreams when they start talking about their first car and say “get a job first…” That goes down well.
- Never suggest an early night to bed.
- Don’t try and turn every conversation in to a life lesson. They see it coming and will hide or suddenly have to wash the car.
- Don’t try to control the music played in the car. It’s always their choice.
- Wrestling, punching and tackling is a proper form of communication apparently.
If you’re raising tweens/teens I wish you luck. We’re just scratching the surface here. But I will say I love this age more than I loved babies. Crazy I know, and remind me of what I said when all 3 of mine are teens! But for now, they are self sufficient, I can leave them at home, they kind of help out (haha sometimes!), they do still listen to me, and I am not so in demand anymore. I wouldn’t swap them for the world though. They can make me belly laugh until I have to pee.
My advice is though – know the kids your kids hang around with. Know their parents. Hang out with the parents, text them, be friends because you never know when you need them. They find out stuff you don’t know about. That is key.
Happy raising teens! Have you got a few parenting notes you’d like to share? 😉
♥ KC.
*disclaimer – this is a joke, tongue in cheek. Just incase, you know.