What mind-blowingly stupid thing has your teen done, or what obvious thing do they ignore?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have teens yet, but when my friend and I were teens we baked cookies. She did not know how to use the timer on the stove, so she used the microwave as her timer...by running it empty for 10 minutes. We were so lucky that it did not start a fire!

I was baking cookies with a friend as a teen and when she read “1 teaspoon baking soda” she honest to god opened a can of coke and poured some into a teaspoon. I thought she was kidding but she wasn’t!

[Anonymous]

Is this some kind of humble brag - the most mind-blowingly stupid thing your kid has done is not know the difference between its and it's?

If you're serious and that is actually true, then congratulations your kid is exceptional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have teens yet, but when my friend and I were teens we baked cookies. She did not know how to use the timer on the stove, so she used the microwave as her timer...by running it empty for 10 minutes. We were so lucky that it did not start a fire!

I was baking cookies with a friend as a teen and when she read “1 teaspoon baking soda” she honest to god opened a can of coke and poured some into a teaspoon. I thought she was kidding but she wasn’t!

I did something similar as a teen when making cookies. I did not know that teaspoons and tablespoons where different, so I put a tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon into the batter. My whole family definitely noticed.

[Anonymous]

As for its and it’s, these kids have grown up in a world of autocorrect so I don’t find that as big of a deal.

Maybe this isn’t the most mind numbing but recent for us…

I noticed the bags from vacation are still sitting on the bedroom floor. We have been back over three days. Aside from not putting anything away even though I was assured it was done, I looked and saw none of the toiletries were on the counter in the kids bathroom. Deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. I asked, “does this mean you haven’t brushed your teeth in over three days?” Reply “I forgot”

[Anonymous]

This is DC area humble bragging and it is painful. Most Americans can't find the US on a map or name the capital.

In any event, nowadays it doesn't serve your kid to know about its and it's anymore bc of spellcheck, as you have thoroughly explained by noting all of his testing and grade achievements. He will have to distinguish himself on new grounds. Grammar and spelling are not really things people spend as much time learning anymore because they don't have to. I am a crazy grammarian, but I realize this--times are changing. I never learned to use a sliderule and that was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this some kind of humble brag - the most mind-blowingly stupid thing your kid has done is not know the difference between its and it's?

If you're serious and that is actually true, then congratulations your kid is exceptional.

Any seriously. I thought this thread was going to be about a kid drinking 20 beers and crashing the family car.

[Anonymous]

During a power outage asked our teen to get a candle to light in the bathroom. DC came back from the basement with a box of electric candles that we display in the windows at Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Rode on the back of a motorcycle on 495 without a helmet
So so so stupid
So so so lucky

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have teens yet, but when my friend and I were teens we baked cookies. She did not know how to use the timer on the stove, so she used the microwave as her timer...by running it empty for 10 minutes. We were so lucky that it did not start a fire!

I was baking cookies with a friend as a teen and when she read “1 teaspoon baking soda” she honest to god opened a can of coke and poured some into a teaspoon. I thought she was kidding but she wasn’t!

ok, that's hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:During a power outage asked our teen to get a candle to light in the bathroom. DC came back from the basement with a box of electric candles that we display in the windows at Christmas.

This is hilarious!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He goes to public school. What do you expect?

Former teacher:

Kids from private schools who came to our public school always had gaps in their knowledge. 100% of the time. My niece was in private and was top of the 8th grade in math. The school said she had no peers at her math level because she was so far ahead but they created enrichment for her for the 10th grade curriculum. 3/4 of the way through 8th grade she had to switch to public school in FCPS. She was so far behind that she needed tutoring 3x a week to be able to understand what was being taught. I’m not dissing privates because there are some benefits to them, but don’t kid yourself that private school education is the utopia.

All private schools are not the same. My son will take BC calc as a sophomore and our public offers nothing beyond that (they said they’d pay for college classes). Our private (that we are switching to) offers multi variable, diff eq, linear algebra, a multiple advanced math seminars.

I just have to say that our public school offers all the math classes that you mentioned. You are obviously not in Montgomery County. I don't want to take away from the discussion, but just wanted to mention that.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I need to feel better here.
17 year old DS, reviewing for his ACT, told me today he just learned this week the difference between "its" and "it ' s".
He's been a bookworm since he was 6! He has a 3.95 cumulative gpa, 4.7 weighted!
How did he get this far not knowing this, and what other obvious thing does he not know?

This is confusing to many adults. If this is the worst thing your 17 year old did and you are in shock maybe you need to get out more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 22 y.o. son recently needed step by step instructions on how to use the post office. Apparently, so far he's only ever used prepaid labels provided by retailers or EBay.

I work at a university and have lost count of the kids with no idea how to address an envelope.

[Anonymous]

A college-age adult relative told me she thought “barbecue” was just a flavor. She didn’t know it had other meanings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this some kind of humble brag - the most mind-blowingly stupid thing your kid has done is not know the difference between its and it's?

If you're serious and that is actually true, then congratulations your kid is exceptional.

Seeing how OP has used this thread to post about her son's high GPA and AP scores I'm not even sure this is a "humble" brag post.