Confession: I kinda sorta like my teens....

[Anonymous]

I like/love my teens too, not that they at not exasperating 50% of the time. My DD even had an unauthorized party.... still I adore her, she is life of the party, social butterfly, full of life. On the flight yesterday, she braided my hair and played with it for over an hour! On her own, because I often braid and style her hair and I didn't ask at all. That is not the norm, every once in a while she will do something so wonderful, that it makes up for toddler like tantrums she also has. DS is quiet and thoughtful, full of empathy, and so reliable, I wish he would get in some small trouble and have more fun!

[Anonymous]

Good God people... I hope you like them. They are YOUR kids!!

[Anonymous]

Sadly, a lot of parents don't like their kids even when they pretend to others. I have twin boy/girl teens and neither is perfect but I accept them for who they are and love and care about them. It's hard raising teens but reading this post helps me cope. I just pray my kids stay safe and away from drugs and the perils of young adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good God people... I hope you like them. They are YOUR kids!!

There are a lot of people who don't like their teenagers, or their adult children for that matter. Parenting adults/young adults is very different from parenting younger children, and not everyone enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for this thread - my three are still young, and I only ever hear the worst about the teen years. So thanks!

[Anonymous]

I think my teens are great. Parenting teens is much more fun for me than parenting infants and toddlers was.

And I think teens are different today - they are not conditioned to be as rebellious of and embarrassed by their parents as they were when I was a teen in the 1980s.

[Anonymous]

Another thanks. Mom to an almost 6yo girl who is delightlful but sometimes acts like a teen just recently ("Mom" in a disgusted tone, gets embarrassed if I act goofy in front of her friends, etc.).

This gives me some hope, although I always expected I'd like the teen years with a girl (my husband, not so much as he loves the toddler/early elem. ages).

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this! Mine are amazing at 7-10 and I hold onto hope that this continues!

[Anonymous]

In my experience all the tired tropes about teens being terrible is terribly over played. My two are interesting, fun, thoughtful and kind. We can sing along together to 80's songs or Hamilton in the car, watch GOOD tv show and movies together and/or talk about Trump and healthcare policy. They are interesting people and a lot more fun that a toddler. Keep open, meet them where they are and pick your battles - it can be really nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I enjoy my teenage son a lot-- we went through some very hard times with him but he seems to be coming out the other side and he likes to spend time with me and he's just a cool, interesting guy. I love my daughter but she's in the VERY moody stage right now and it's a bit hard to take. I finally have learned, through the hard times with the first one, to just walk away and take nothing personally!

I don't have a teen yet, but I will remember this line. It is hard to just walk away and take nothing personally when kids talk back, not respectful and ignore you. I will try harder.

Not sure how old your kids are, but I will say that before they were teens, I did not walk away--I was really into teaching them to be respectful. For me, the strategy changed when my DD became a teen because their brain changes. Pre-teen, you've given them a baseline of the rules. They now *know* how to be respectful, but unlike little kids, their brain wants drama. So your parenting strategy changes because you don't want to give their brain positive feedback via drama. So you ignore snarky behavior. Then after a while, getting no drama out of you for their talking back, they revert back to their old behavior that you taught them pre-teen.

[Anonymous]

OP back again and still loving this thread.

Plus they love to watch all the old movie greats with me with lost of teen drama. We have watched every John Hughes movie. Which reminds me, Pretty in Pink is on Amazon Prime now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back again and still loving this thread.

Plus they love to watch all the old movie greats with me with lost of teen drama. We have watched every John Hughes movie. Which reminds me, Pretty in Pink is on Amazon Prime now.

One thing my teens will not do is watch TV with me - or watch any TV at all. Everything is on the iPhone or tablet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I enjoy my teenage son a lot-- we went through some very hard times with him but he seems to be coming out the other side and he likes to spend time with me and he's just a cool, interesting guy. I love my daughter but she's in the VERY moody stage right now and it's a bit hard to take. I finally have learned, through the hard times with the first one, to just walk away and take nothing personally!

I don't have a teen yet, but I will remember this line. It is hard to just walk away and take nothing personally when kids talk back, not respectful and ignore you. I will try harder.

Not sure how old your kids are, but I will say that before they were teens, I did not walk away--I was really into teaching them to be respectful. For me, the strategy changed when my DD became a teen because their brain changes. Pre-teen, you've given them a baseline of the rules. They now *know* how to be respectful, but unlike little kids, their brain wants drama. So your parenting strategy changes because you don't want to give their brain positive feedback via drama. So you ignore snarky behavior. Then after a while, getting no drama out of you for their talking back, they revert back to their old behavior that you taught them pre-teen.

tru

[Anonymous]

Me too!
It goes by too fast, my twins just completed their 2nd year of college, and my baby turned 16 today, it seems just yesterday I was knee-deep in diapers and tantrums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I enjoy my teenage son a lot-- we went through some very hard times with him but he seems to be coming out the other side and he likes to spend time with me and he's just a cool, interesting guy. I love my daughter but she's in the VERY moody stage right now and it's a bit hard to take. I finally have learned, through the hard times with the first one, to just walk away and take nothing personally!

I don't have a teen yet, but I will remember this line. It is hard to just walk away and take nothing personally when kids talk back, not respectful and ignore you. I will try harder.

Not sure how old your kids are, but I will say that before they were teens, I did not walk away--I was really into teaching them to be respectful. For me, the strategy changed when my DD became a teen because their brain changes. Pre-teen, you've given them a baseline of the rules. They now *know* how to be respectful, but unlike little kids, their brain wants drama. So your parenting strategy changes because you don't want to give their brain positive feedback via drama. So you ignore snarky behavior. Then after a while, getting no drama out of you for their talking back, they revert back to their old behavior that you taught them pre-teen.

Yes, I agree. I was the original poster referenced here. I did a lot of ground work and I know both my kids know what is right and wrong etc. and at heart they're great people - so you like the drama stuff go from 11-17 so not worth it