Support thread for parents of teenagers

2 lurkers | 136 watchers

Lizzie Whizzmas Jan 2021 5:01pm, 4 Jan 2021 24,379 posts	0 Lizzie Whizzmas Re coming to dinner, I employ 5 minute warning (so he can finish paragraph/battle etc) and that's to lay the table, so there's a bit of give in the system!
halfpint Jan 2021 7:43am, 8 Jan 2021 33,815 posts	0 halfpint rant alert QP came home for Christmas, which was lovely, and now isn’t returning to college until (I presume) Feb. He is driving me nuts. The kitchen is constantly a mess, he dumps dishes by the sink rather than put them in the dishwasher, there’s a pair of trainers on the dining table along with all the stuff he used to replace the laces. He has become nocturnal which would be fine if he didn’t crash around the place. I’ve been woken at 2:20am by him going about and last night he went down at 11:40 to make food. I get up at 6:30 so I’m tired and grumpy.
halfpint Jan 2021 8:01am, 8 Jan 2021 33,818 posts	0 halfpint Oh and the showers. Long, hot showers that steam up the whole upstairs and use all the hot water.
ShaunWaite Jan 2021 8:04am, 8 Jan 2021 First-time poster!!	0 ShaunWaite I don't want to sound like a broken record but hopefully it is a phase he'll grow out of and start realising he lives in a family home and not a hotel
DocM Jan 2021 8:05am, 8 Jan 2021 39,101 posts	0 DocM At what age ? My hubby hasn't got to that point yet
LindsD Jan 2021 8:18am, 8 Jan 2021 44,201 posts	0 LindsD Welcome to the forums, Shaun Billy is similar, HP. And doesn't get dressed. The nocturnal thing drives me mad. Billy shows no signs of doing any college work either.
TeeBee Jan 2021 8:23am, 8 Jan 2021 7,236 posts	0 TeeBee Yep - nocturnal wherever possible, long showers, no sense of spreading personal effects and dirty crockery all over the downstairs. I recognise all of that.
mrs shanksi Jan 2021 8:40am, 8 Jan 2021 11,814 posts	0 mrs shanksi You have my sympathy hp. Our older two should be living away from home to attend uni but because of covid they aren't and it's been difficult. It wasn't so bad when my youngest and I were out the house at school and work but with this lockdown we are all stuck in all day again. I may be the bad Mum but I have put a stop to the older boys becoming nocturnal. I don't think it's good for their mental health to be up all night and sleeping all day and missing getting out on the daylight. I made a deal with them that they have to be having breakfast by 9am. I then have to stop my middle son going back to bed, but it's slowly working. He came for a run with me on Wednesday. They are still quite bad at leaving stuff in the wrong place, but getting better.
halfpint Jan 2021 8:58am, 8 Jan 2021 33,819 posts	0 halfpint I think I’d really got used to living alone. The number of times I mutter ‘FFS’ under my breath each day is increasing and it’s actually stressing me out. Mrs S I was going to suggest that he starts to shift his getting up time a bit earlier. I agree it’s not good for him and he’ll suffer for it when he goes back to college as well. Every time I mention this stuff to him he apologises and agrees with what I’m saying but in a ‘that’ll shut her up’ way and then just continues to do the same stuff. Then when I eventually lose my shit then I’m being unreasonable. And so the cycle continues.
Bazoaxe Jan 2021 9:21am, 8 Jan 2021 18,500 posts	0 Bazoaxe That is tough. My daughter used to give the 'its your house you do it' line, or 'I didnt sign up for this and you chose to have me'. She has turned out OK though and actually this was helped by living away from home at Uni where she came across an 18yo lad to who completely unable to do anything. Put empty packets of bacon back in the fridge, piled up dishes and never washed a thing etc etc