I have a 16 year old stepson.
(and yes, I totally just heard all you parents of teenagers suck in your breath and mutter sympathetic words. I hear you. I now know why gerbils eat their young while they can.)
We will call my stepson Al. Al's not a bad kid by any stretch of the means. He's just a teenager, which makes him inherently a pain in my ass. Last night the hubs and I took the two younger kids trick-or-treating and left Al at home to pass out candy. This was probably a huge mistake on our part, but alas the 7 year old wanted mom & dad to go with him. We warned the teenager not to eat the whole bowl of candy while we were gone. When we returned home a good part of the candy was gone. In Al's defense we had quite a bit of kids out and about trick or treating. So later in the night, after the festivities had ended, I casually mentioned to Al that he might want to make sure and brush his teeth well.
Him: "Why do I have to brush my teeth well?"
Me: "Because of all the candy you ate."
Him: (sigh, eye roll) "It wasn't a lot. I only ate like 10 pieces." (sigh, snort, eye roll rolled so far I wondered if he rolled his eye balls around the whole perimeter of his head.)
*crickets chirping*
Me: (blank stare, while figuring out teenager candy math. 10 candy bars + 6 whoppers - 3 twizzlers he fed to the squirrels + 8 suckers= 10 pieces)
Do teenagers really think parents are that stupid? Wait. Don't answer that. Just lie to me and tell me it gets better.
Well, I am almost 5 years away from 16 with my stepdaughter and I would also like someone to tell me it gets better. Cuz there are days I'd like to smack her upside the head.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had words of comfort for you, but my stepson is in his mid-30s and only just now seems to be getting it. And that's only on a few days here and there...
ReplyDeleteOf course, he's not typical. You may be having smoother sailing within 5 years.