Raising a teenager

Raising a teenager 

Tears, tantrums, door slamming, attitude and threats to leave are a regular occurance in our house ... mainly from me!  Anyone who has a teenager will know where I am coming from when I say raising a teenager is hard work!!!! 
The teenager seems to think that clothes on the floor create more insulation for cold mornings, cups and plates are washed by a fairy and that there is no need to use actual words anymore as the cave man language is making a come back. 
Throw in a few other teenager boys that randomly appear in my house a couple of times a week... bringing with them an odour of sweaty feet and lynx, constant references to PlayStation games, and no desire whatsoever to revise for up coming exams and you have pretty much summed up the life of the teenager. 
As time goes on I find myself sounding more and more like my Dad everyday, using phrases such as “you sound like a heard of elephants up there” , “you’re either in or you’re out” and “stop acting the goat”.  Most days I feel like a broken record as I constantly repeat myself and I am forever texting my mum telling her I was never like that as a teenager although she takes great pleasure in assuring me I was. 
So far this year we have had drama over mock exams and my insistence on revision being done and an interesting male body part being drawn on a bedroom wall in furniture polish!. Before anyone asks yes the teenager is still alive and his head is still attached to his body. 
Everyday is an experience and some days are a battle. 
At the minute the biggest battle surrounds exam revision. I want him to do some, he wants to hang out with his lynx smelling mates. I make him do revision and I am sure he hates me for it. I make him leave his phone downstairs on a night so he can have a good nights sleep and I know he hates me for that !! But the truth is that’s OK. I don’t mind if he hates me right now for making him do things he doesn’t want to do because I know in the long run these things will help him achieve the life and career he wants and as a parent that’s all that matters. 
I’m not here to be his best friend, he’s got plenty of friends. I am here to help him become a good member of society, to help him achieve his goals and have a happy life. 

Sometimes the days are difficult, but they are also worth it. Despite the attitude, poor vocabulary and questionable artwork , he is a pretty great boy, he makes me laugh everyday, is talented in so many things, understands my epilepsy and makes me feel better by taking the piss out of me and fixes my IT disasters every time I ask (which is a lot). Cant really ask for more than that can I. 

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