Does anyone else feel this way?

Question

I cannot wait until my teenage boy is out of the house! He is demanding, moody, hates school, annoys his sister, argues, has to be told everything twice or more & drinks out of the milk carton!!!!!! I can't stand it! He is also loud, slams all the doors...I am going out of my mind! Is it me or is it him? He'll be 15 in a few months. Am I being punished? What!?!?

Answer 1

In our household we refer to that as "testosterone poisoning". He is trying to be the top dog in the kennel. The worst thing you can do is respond in a like manner. The best thing you can do is remain calm and repeatedly (and I do mean repeatedly) tell him that you will not tolerate such unacceptable behavior. No nagging, no yelling, no throwing things - none of that.

If he does not follow certain acceptable guidelines, then be sure there are consequences - no t.v., no video games, no iPod, no computer (except for homework), no nothing until he earns it by being respectful and acts like a decent human being. It will be a rough go, and you will have to remain calm and consistant (and that latter part is really tough, too).

Good luck!

Answer 2

I went through this with my teenage daughter and I was miserable! You are not being punished it's a stage they go through and I mean they all go through it! I even went as far as calling up my mother to say "what am I doing wrong" But what I finally was started acting like she did. Doing the exact same things she did and she didn't enjoy it at all. When it came down to it, she realized she was acting like a fool and it then changed her. Maybe not the most mature way to do this but even after taking away all of her items to punish, yelling, screaming and being almost bald from pulling my hair out, I was out of options. Parenting is a trial and error basis. What works for one child won't necessarily work for another. Just keep trying different things and eventually something will work or he will FINALLY be out of that stage! I partied that day! LOL

Answer 3

oh, god honey, have you completly missed out on the last century or something? He is a teenager, thats how they act, get use to it, if you try and change him, it'll only make him worse, and make him hate you. Just be there for him when he needs it and dont worry all the time, you cant protect him from everything and trying to do so is hurting him even more, than letting him try stuff out. Thats exactly what my parents did, im 16 and a wreck, dont do to him what my parents did to me! DONT SMOTHER HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!