Does every 14 year old...

[Crissy]

lack common sense, or is it just mine?

 

Good thing this kid has a job. He's paying for the plumber.:glare:

[Haiku]

Mine has none. Absolutely zilch. Zero.

 

In fact, in addition to being completely devoid of common sense, she seems to spend most of her day with her brain unplugged.

 

She asked me this morning what year our house was built. I told her 1910. She said, "So it was built by the people who lived here before the Native Americans, right?" I looked at her kind of strangely and said, "Who lived here before the Native Americans?" She thought for a moment and said, "Dinosaurs?"

 

Yep, she's 14. Quite a ringing endorsement of public school, eh?

 

Tara

[Diana in OR]

My 14yo does, but my 12.5 year old doesn't. Just yesterday, I talked with him about not pulling the trigger on his airsoft gun in the house b/c you never know if it's loaded,cocked, etc. A few hours later and his brother's window has a hole in it ("It was Aaron's gun...I didn't know it was loaded.)

 

Among other things, this kid will not be allowed to drive until he is at least 30, lol.

[WTMCassandra]

:grouphug:

[Haiku]

Among other things, this kid will not be allowed to drive until he is at least 30, lol.

 

Oh, yeah, my daughter keeps telling me how she's going to get her driver's license in two years. After first pointing out that she would not have a car to drive and that I would not allow her to wreck (ooops, I mean, drive) my car and also telling her that, when she does drive she will be responsible for paying for her own insurance, I finally just started smiling and saying, "Good luck with that."

 

(I'm not really that snide with her. I also pointed out that kids in the 16-18 year range have the highest proportion of fatal accidents of all drivers and for that reason alone none of my kids will drive until they are old enough to get their licenses on their own ... I mean, we bought a house on the bus line for a REASON. But honestly, I don't think that this kid has any prayer of being anywhere remotely close to mature enough and responsible enough to drive in two years.)

 

Tara

[shell in SC]

OK, I'll bite. . .what's the plumber have to fix????

 

Oh and BTW, don't look for the common sense to return any time soon. I know girls are different, but I'm still waiting for dd18's to return.

 

:grouphug: just remember that

 

1. you are not alone

2. They will eventually move out!!!! Yippee!!!

 

shell

[LaMere Academy]

lack common sense, or is it just mine?

 

Good thing this kid has a job. He's paying for the plumber.:glare:

 

Mine sure does. He's a smart kid, but very air headed lately. I'm hoping it's just a stage.

[Brigitte]

Good thing this kid has a job. He's paying for the plumber.:glare:

 

So, how long are you going to make us wait to find out why you need a plumber? :D

[Remudamom]

Mercy, I've got three of them. I am astounded at their apparent intelligence at times and their complete idiocy at others. I will say that the last time they had to pay for the plumber they were two years old and we were in the midst of potty training. Since then though, they have pulled off feats that have resulted in one of them being grounded until he's thirty or married, whichever comes first. He plans on sending his identical brother out in to the world to find him a bride so that he can leave the house.

[LKMN]

At that age they are in the "zone". My 17 year old dd came out around 15 and I can hardly wait for my 14 year old to come out it.

She used to be so smart!:)

[Brindee]

 

2. They will eventually move out!!!! Yippee!!!

:001_huh: Ohhh, that's sad...I don't WANT mine to move out, airheaded or not!:001_wub:

[Crissy]

The dog threw up on the floor. Jeffrey cleaned it up with what seemed to be half a roll of paper towels.

Then he flushed them. All of them. At the same time.:glare:

 

I was sure the need for having inappropriate-items-to-flush conversations had ended when they turned five.

[Brindee]

The dog threw up on the floor. Jeffrey cleaned it up with what seemed to be half a roll of paper towels.

Then he flushed them. All of them. At the same time.:glare:

 

I was sure the need for having inappropriate-items-to-flush conversations had ended when they turned five.

Ohhhh, sorry! Yeah that qualifies for the brain missing category! ;)

 

Sometimes my dh and I just look at our kids in total awe (read: confusion...jaw dropped). How on earth could you do that and think it was the right thing to do??? :001_huh: :glare:

 

Their saving grace---usually they don't do that very same thing again! Though, they have come up with other doozies that have us shaking our heads in wonder!!!:tongue_smilie:

[Crissy]

ACK! What is it with these men?

 

My husband just used my favorite little water pitcher, the one my friend brought back from his visit to Italy, to scoop water from the TOILET!! :cursing:

 

 

I'm going to kick them all out and change the locks.

[Natalieclare]

ACK! What is it with these men?

 

My husband just used my favorite little water pitcher, the one my friend brought back from his visit to Italy, to scoop water from the TOILET!! :cursing:

 

 

I'm going to kick them all out and change the locks.

 

I'm going to send a man out with yours! I have a little toile guest towel that I bought as a memento of a special trip--why does he always reach for that towel to: insulate outdoor pipes, clean off the grill, dry off a raw roast, and wipe up bird poop on a swing. Sigh. I am thankful that at least he is doing those things, but has he no discernment??? Does he not remember previous piercing shrieks of displeasure???

[Kathy in MD]

lack common sense, or is it just mine?

 

Good thing this kid has a job. He's paying for the plumber.:glare:

 

 

I think it's all of them. The police were responding to a 911 call from our neighbors' but no one answered the door. They came to our house to see if we knew anything and then saw .....THE RED SPOTS....... all over our AC and parts of our garden. Emergency call, no response at the home and BLOOD??????

 

I said my ds was trying to avoid dripping paint on the carpet and threw his brush out his window. The police immediately accepted what happened. Yep, dumb things are typical!

 

PS, the neighbors apparently accidently hit the 911 fast dial on their cell phone while they were out. Things were fine.

[DB in NJ]

lack common sense, or is it just mine?

 

Good thing this kid has a job. He's paying for the plumber.:glare:

 

I don't mean to laugh, but this sounds like there's quite a story!!!! :lol:

[tinag]

ACK! What is it with these men?

 

My husband just used my favorite little water pitcher, the one my friend brought back from his visit to Italy, to scoop water from the TOILET!! :cursing:

 

 

I'm going to kick them all out and change the locks.

 

Are you sure that isn't my dh and ds at your house?

I'm serious.

[PariSarah]

The dog threw up on the floor. Jeffrey cleaned it up with what seemed to be half a roll of paper towels.

Then he flushed them. All of them. At the same time.:glare:

 

. . . my ILs were hosting a foreign exchange student? He had graduated from high school and was in the US for a gap year before heading to college. So you'd think he had basic life down relatively well.

 

But one day, he filled up the bath tub to take a bath, and then got in it.

 

No, he filled up the whole bath tub. And then got in it.

 

They got that mess cleaned up pretty well, though.

 

The second time . . .

 

Oh, did I mention that he did it a second time?

 

. . . the second time, they had to replace the ceiling in their basement.

 

This kid was an honors kid. He was in the US on a special program for the best and brightest of his country.

 

It would make the story so much better if he had been studying physics, but, alas, I think he was pre-law.

[Tracey in TX]

The dog threw up on the floor. Jeffrey cleaned it up with what seemed to be half a roll of paper towels.

Then he flushed them. All of them. At the same time.:glare:

 

I was sure the need for having inappropriate-items-to-flush conversations had ended when they turned five.

 

When our triplets were toddlers we actually budgeted monthly phone replacements. At least once per month they would place a cell phone in the toilet, home phone in bath tub, or poor unsuspecting kitty in the fridge (don't ask, really).

I throw up my hands, wave the proverbial white flag and admit "You must be smarter than me" and "I can be outwitted." :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[cindyinTexas]

I read this in Readers Digest this last month. I know what you are talking about my 14 year old boy is the same way.

 

This is an article on driving and why 16 year old should not be behind the wheel.

 

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/dangerous-teen-drivers/article81417.html

 

Here is the link to the whole article. I think every parent that has a teen that is going to drive soon should read it.

 

Laughing....they don't cover paper towels and toilets.....

 

 

 

Here is the part about how they are hardwired.

1. TEACH YOUR KIDS

Part of the reason for teens' poor judgment is hardwired: The brain's prefrontal cortex-which handles tasks like controlling impulses-isn't fully formed. “Our brains get tons of input from multiple places,” says Flaura Winston, MD, scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “Adults don't act on all those impulses; we sort them. But teens have a hard time doing this.” And they have a hard time understanding what's risky in a car. In a recent study, researchers surveyed 5,600 teens and found huge gaps in their knowledge.

[Haiku]

Part of the reason for teens' poor judgment is hardwired: The brain's prefrontal cortex-which handles tasks like controlling impulses-isn't fully formed.

 

And yet somehow the teens of the past not only survive but also thrived even though their responsibilities were light-years beyond what is commonly expected of today's teens. My great-grandmother had two children and was completely responsible for running her household at the age of 14. :001_huh:

 

Tara