This isn't new. We've been in this for a decade as he has had mental health challenges his entire life. With that said, it adds a new wrinkle when they can date, find girlfriends with mood disorders (who may even be suicidal) and they negatively influence one another. In my son's case, he's 16 and moods come and go in waves. Sometimes the downward spirals cause him to send off flurries of texts to everyone he knows where he describes self-harm, running away, etc. It could be to anyone he knows, including teachers phone numbers, family members, etc. He doesn't really understand that its inappr ..read more

Bonus points if you have teenage girls! How would you describe your teen’s friendships? Do they have tight knit groups with minimal drama? I think I need to remind myself that things are just so different compared to 20 years ago and what teen friendships looked like. My 15yo daughter has come to me tonight to tell me she’s having some issues with who she thought to be her closest friend. The issues relate to her intentionally excluding my daughter and a couple of their other friends from hangouts/group chats, now ignoring her at school, ignoring any attempts at communication from my daughter ..read more

I'm sick so my daughter that she would make supper for us. She said she was going to make us pasta with cheese. Unfortunately the pasta is not cooked and it's way too cheesy. I have to eat it though or she will be so hurt. Down the hatch! ? submitted by /u/slipperysquirrell [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

My kiddo is turning sixteen next week and he has absolutely no opinion about anything from gifts to activities. He's said that he no longer likes cake which throws off my annual theme cake that I make for him. The only thing he really wants is money because he's saving app for things like a car. Totally fine doing that, but I want to make it creative somehow. Anybody have ideas on things I can both buy a sixteen year old boy who says he doesn't want anything and things I can do to make his day special even though he says he doesn't want to do anything? submitted by /u/midnitelogic [visit red ..read more

My kid is going through a slimshady phase and I let him bleach his hair. His grandparents (not my parents) are up in arms over it. They're saying I'm not letting him be a kid, that he'll get bullied, that he will go down a bad road and all sorts of other crap. They never let their kids dress to express themselves and it didn't do anything to keep their son out of jail. He still made the choices to ruin his life. I was allowed to dress in my emo fashion and though I did grow out of it, my Ober all experience was positive. I loved looking different and the few people that were crappy about it ..read more

My 15 y/o daughter is VERY introverted. She comes off as unfriendly, aloof, and is very quiet. She has a couple friends who are wonderful girls, but does not spend much time with them. She rarely smiles, and has trouble making small talk (let alone full conversations) with family members like grandparents/aunts/uncles etc, as well as making any new friends. Weird thing is, she is very confident, very happy with life, very dedicated to ballet training, and is very pretty. She accepts herself for who she is, a quiet girl with only a couple friends. I’m happy for that, because she doesn’t care a ..read more

My boyfriend, youngest son, and I just got back from a wedding trip in another country. We were gone for a week. My oldest daughter (from a previous marriage) - we'll call her Abby - couldn't go because of work and school, and stayed with her dad, who lived nearby. She's almost 16. We asked Abby if she could watch our pets while we were gone. There are 2 cats, which are pretty easy to care for, and one dog, who would require the most work. She was supposed to let the dog out before and after school and take him for walks in the evenings. She could either stay here or at her dad's ( a couple o ..read more

My daughter is 17, a high school junior. Her grades are fine—though we have talked about her improving them as best she can this year, to keep options open with college admissions and scholarships (not an expectation of certain grades, an expectation of making school a priority). When her boyfriend is in her life, she gets very caught up in constantly making plans with him, and loses her head a bit and, imho, her sense of self. It’s frustrating, and while certainly not abnormal, a sign to me of immaturity. For example, she will not leave herself time to do hw over the weekend until the end of ..read more

I have a son who is 18. He is a good kid for the most part and we have a good relationship. He's kind and loving and still happy to give his mom a hug every day. I adore him! There have been a few mistakes made along the way. In grade 10 he got caught selling vapes at school. When he was 17, he got caught with open liquor in the "night life" district of our city (he got a ticket which he paid). A month ago, he tried to break up a fight in the same area and he got pepper sprayed by one of the guys involved in the altercation - police took a report and spoke to witnesses but it ended there sinc ..read more

What are your thoughts on kicking your teens out when they turn 18? Does the decision change depending on whether they are attending college/tech school or not? What new dynamics/boundaries have you set with your new adults? I'm not telling you about my specific teen because I don't want that to influence your responses. Edit: For the record, I simply realized I haven't thought about this. I haven't done anything either way. Just gathering opinions. submitted by /u/aclesandra [visit reddit] [comments ..read more