Yes, I was a massive pain in the ass when I was 16.

But at least I knew when to shut the F up Especially when I was being given an explicit second chance to unfuck my last attitude that had my privileges revoked.

Lord, grant me patience, and him some damned sense…

I have a 16 year old daughter and I can relate. Sometimes, they want to watch the world burn.
Example:
Me: You have a zero for a missing assignment.
16: I turned it in, I promise.
Later that day:
16: Can you help me with this problem?
Me: Isn't that the missing assignment?
16: Well I was going to turn it in.
Me: Why did you lie?
16: It's not my fault! You act like you know everything Dad! Just shut up!

Other times, kids are amazing.

quote:

But at least I knew when to shut the F up Especially when I was being given an explicit second chance to unfuck my last attitude that had my privileges revoked.

I had one that would keep his mouth shut and one that had to keep running her mouth. I am past that now with young adult children and I promise you it gets better. Hang in there.

A swift tap to the throat will silence most folks, teenagers included.

I only joke, half-joke.

This sort of behavior signals problems in OTHER areas. Schedule a time where both of you can get together and talk. A favorite restaurant you both like would be ideal.

quote:

Originally posted by dking271:
I had one that would keep his mouth shut and one that had to keep running her mouth.

I've found that this is really pretty gender specific

I feel your pain. I wish my son remained 5-10 year old. He is 18 now, going on 19. Freshman college. We (I) try to instill discipline and responsibility on him as much as I can. But at this day and age, I am conflicted on how much of that discipline I can, or should instill. Compared to other teenagers I see, he is still doing better. But there are some things he does that irritates the hell out of me. Take some of his privileges away, that itself becomes another argument.

Push them too much, then they "may" become depressed, feel unloved. Or even worse, they may become what all parents are afraid off (suicidal). This generation is something else.

I pray each day that I do what is best for my son. I love him dearly. I try to be the best dad I can be. But there has to be rules in our house.

I once had three teenagers at the same time.

The oldest would often not know when to shut up and the youngest caused many other issues.

There is hope.

My oldest has a PHD and is a Sr. Chemist for EJ Gallo Winery.

Middle is a Sr. Accountant for an IT consulting firm.

Youngest is a U.S. Army Captain.

I have one son that's 22 and one that's 16. If I had it my way, they'd stay pre teens forever.

You are not a normal parent if you dont consider killing your teenagers from time to time. And if you could get a jury with all parents of teenagers on it, you might skate.
Example: Bought the kid a cell phone. Paid for his usage plan. If one of his cronies called or sent a text, he responded instantly. If I called him, I was instantly sent to voice mail.
This caused me to contemplate his ugly demise!

My daughters did everything they could to keep me off their asses, but pretty much did whatever they pleased behind my back. My older was 15 years out of high school when I found out she was legendary in high school for her record attendance in SAFE, the classroom for disciplinary problems. (She was allowed to go to labs, though.) She would order pizza to be delivered thru the window in classes with room facing the back of the building. I went to visit her in college once, and as I approached her dorm, I saw her face in a third floor window. She then dropped a bowling ball from it. I decided it was a bad day to visit and left.

It all worked out well, though. Both girls are now working engineers.

There is the natural order of things.
They are cute and lovable when they are small and it is easy to bury the body. They don't turn into the little shits you want to drown until they are big enough that it is too much work to dig a big enough hole.


My son is 35 now and has 2 young teenagers to deal with.

I went thru five. Was at the grocery a while back and a women came down the aisle
with a toddler screaming his head off. I said to the wife so do you want to have another kid?
She yelled out OH HELL NO!! I turned around and a man was laughing his ass off.
They all turned out ok.

I do have to say, he is an amazing kid and we have a great relationship 95% of the time. I’m quite proud of him for many things and we do enjoy doing things together.

But that 5% of the time…

I will also say that he got a good night’s sleep last night and it made an incredible difference today. That was refreshing.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
...
My son is 35 now and has 2 young teenagers to deal with.

Grandkids are our revenge.

My theory is that if they didn't turn into turdnuggets, we would keep them around forever. So their bad attitude changes us from "please never leave" to "how soon can you be out?" It's like the cute baby fawn that the mother doe will fight to the death to protect, then a few months later she's beating it half to death herself to get it to move on.... Nature.

I have a 15 year old step daughter. I raised two sons as a single father with custody. One son turned out great, the other one didn't.
I also have a Kubota tractor with a backhoe.
So if any of you need holes dug, and you are not far away, it's much less effort using the backhoe joysticks vs using a pick and shovel.
PM if you need assistance.

Hopefully, in 4 to 7 years, you'll be not as dumb as you are now and your kid will say, "Wow, my dad has gotten smarter over the years!"

I thought I understood what having my patience tested was. Then I became a father.

quote:

Grandkids are our revenge.

Fill them with candy. Take them home.