Are your teens always grumpy?

[Anonymous]

My kids were always happy and found joy in almost anything. They were always laughing, running around in a pack of kids, playing, and super out going. The dumbest things would amuse them. They could go from opening to closing at any amusement park,.They were never quiet or bored. Honestly, it was exhausting.

Fast forward and now as teenagers they are grouches. They have friends but never want to do anything. They will do things occasionally with their friends but do not want to stay long. DS gets very annoyed if he friends want to hang out all day. They seem to only be interested in video games or YouTube. We drag them out and they will partially enjoy the activity if it is outdoorsy or adventurous. Rafting, mountain biking, boating BUT they only really enjoy it for part of the time. Getting there involves a sea of complaints and whining and inevitably after a while it will be constant complaints, bickering, they want to leave and they are back on their phones.

They get all As but say they really don't like school because its boring. They don't seem depressed or sad. They just seem like little grumps all the time who want to be alone sitting around on their devices.

Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

No. They are mostly happy or at least not UNhappy. Then there are flashes of anger that surprise us all. They DEFINITELY want to be left alone when they get home from school. Even the extroverted one.

They're a smidge more spacey, a bit more attitude-y but in general, I can work with this.

[Anonymous]

One of mine is almost always in a bad mood, the other one is like 2 days of the week. Neither listen or do what I ask.

[Anonymous]

Not normal. How is the diet?

[Anonymous]

No. My 9 is grumpier than my 14 year old.

[Anonymous]

My 14 yr old tends to be grumpy when he is hungry or tired which is more frequent since he turned 13. When he isn’t hungry or tired, he resembles a semi normal human being. Lol!

[Anonymous]

My 16 yo is grumpy when he is exhausted.

[Anonymous]

It depends with my 16 yo DS. Generally he's happy and sometimes in such a good mood he's actually driving me nuts because he's too energetic for me - like in the evenings when I'm home from a long day at work, long commute and exhausted. But it can change on a dime. He doesn't take instruction or criticism well (and we're going through that with him having his learners permit) and it'll make him go quiet or grumpy. Or something "bad" happens at soccer practice (someone scored on him and he got grief from teammates in a scrimmage) and same reaction, he's in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

And then there's the usual hangry or overly tired bad moods. Just like when he was a toddler and preschooler!

He does tend to complain a lot, school, teachers, coaches, drivers ed "sucked", everyone's stupid... This kid has no idea how good he has it at this point in his life.

[Anonymous]

I've been wondering whether its the growth spurts. My DD was like this and grew 4 inches. She is still moody, whiny and dramatic but not withdrawn now that her growth has slowed down. DS grew 5 inches over the past few months. He has been a constant grump.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I hate the pull of the "screens" on our kids. Phones and video games. It just sucks.

[Anonymous]

yes, OP. This is our life too.

[Anonymous]

Another parent of grumpy here
DG or Dear Grump could be dc’s dcum name.

[Anonymous]

It’s the electronics addiction. OP, do your kids still want to stay at home if they don’t have access to their screens? Do you think it’s the need for screen time that causes their grumpiness?

[Anonymous]

Freshman and Sophomore year suck. There is nothing to do. They are not kids anymore and they can't do what adults do.

Life is pretty much boring... school, sport, homework, repeat... weekend are boring.

they can't drive, drink or date.

They are in pre-adult bodies doing stuff 8 year olds like to do.

[Anonymous]

Yup. Like Abe Vigoda in a Snickers ad.