What is your "teenager high-water mark"?

[RegGuheert]

DS13 turned 13 today, so we now have five teenagers in our family. Four live here and DS19 is living with DS27 this summer. Fortunately, we will have all seven children home on Saturday! :)

 

In October, four of our five teenagers will have learner's permits. I warned my neighbor, "If you see us coming down the road, IT'S NOT US!" :ohmy:

 

We had five in diapers once upon a time. Teenagers are MUCH better, IMO. :thumbup1:

 

What was/is/will be your "teenager high-water mark"?

[historically accurate]

My 3 kids are almost exactly 5 years apart from oldest to youngest, so we'll have 3 for a couple of years.

[Ravin]

Girlfriend's boys are only a year apart, so they went through the teens more or less together. The younger turned 20 a few months after DD turned 13. DD and DS are just under seven years apart, so they will both be teens for a short period between when DS turns 13 and DD turns 20, we'll hit 2 at once again.

[Selkie]

My three are all teenagers right now. 15, 17, and 18!

[Pawz4me]

Our boys are three years apart, so we had two teenagers for four years. We've found the teenage years to be very enjoyable--much more so than their younger years. But we've probably been incredibly lucky.

[MysteryJen]

Ds3 turned 13 last week, so we have 4 teens, plus ds1 who is 20. Teens are fun, frustrating at times, and exhausting, but mostly awesome.

It has been the hardest part of parenting for me, but also the most rewarding.

[PinkTulip]

My kids are all 21 months apart, so I currently have 4 teenage boys: 19, 17, 16, and 14. It's crazy and so fun at the same time.

[EKS]

I had two at one time but it was only for about 18 months.

[Anne in CA]

Our kids are so spread out that we only had two as teens at a time, we only have one left and she is 17, but when she turns twenty we will have been parents of teens for 21 years. 

[carriede]

They're all little now, but when DS1 turns 13, DS8 will be 19. So 19, 17, 15 and 13.

 

But only for 3 months.

Edited July 13, 2017 by carriede

[wintermom]

I've got 3 teen now, and I'm really enjoying this season of my life. They are more and more independent and so am I!  

[DawnM]

only three kids.  All are teens.  19, 17, and 13.  This is the only year they will all be teens.

[Davysmom]

My crew is spaced out, so we will consistently have 3 at a time but never more than 3.

 

I will have teenagers though for a total of 22 years!

[TheReader]

we'll only ever have 2 at the same time, and I'd have to do math to figure out how long we will have had it that way by the time we're done....oldest turns 20 in September, and youngest doesn't turn 13 until February, so for 5 months we'll only have one, which we haven't had since 2013 when the middle son turned 13. 

 

So....just short of 4 yrs we'll have had 2 teens at once, then we'll have a 5 month break, then we'll have 2 teens again until Dec 2020, so just short of 3 yrs that go-round. And then 4 more years of just one.....we had just over 3 yrs of just one at the start of the teen season...so if I'm mathing right, more years of 2 teens than of just 1 teen.

 

But so far I've enjoyed the teen years with the boys. I still remember when my oldest first entered teenager years, and decided to read Edgar Allen Poe.....I realized then this teen thing might not be so bad. So much more fun to talk to them about literature than it was talking about Elmo & Barney & such. 

[Cinder]

Three dc total; two teens at once at most. The boys are 3 years apart so we've had two teens for a few years. But technically, when dd turns 13 later this year ds2 will still be a teen--19. It's not quite the same though, as having two middle schoolers or high schoolers at once. Dd will be in 7th grade and ds2 will be in his second year of college.

[zoobie]

Four kids total, but the max number of teens at any time will be two. We have two sets of two less than two years apart, and the sets have a big spacing.

[J-rap]

For about 8 months we had five teenagers at once.  :)  

 

[Bluegoat]

I'll have three for a while.  My youngest is seven years younger than the next youngest, so they will overlap for about 4 months.

[Penguin]

Our kids are so spread out that we only had two as teens at a time, we only have one left and she is 17, but when she turns twenty we will have been parents of teens for 21 years. 

This is almost us. We have been parenting at least one teen continuously since 2004, and the current teen turns 20 in 2020. But only a max of two-teens-at-a-time. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Penguin

[TravelingChris]

We had a teen from 2003 to 2016. Only 2 at a time. But some rough times during teen years with all of them - all medically related.

[JudoMom]

Next year I'll have 19, 18, 16, 14, and 13.

 

I only ever had 3 in diapers at once, though.

[Guest]

I had four teens for about three straight years. I almost had five teens at once, but my twins turned 20 just as my fifth child turned 13.

[nixpix5]

We had two teens together with the first two (and 3 in diapers at the time!) and this time around we will have 3 teens. Two are twins and our daughter is 18 months older than them.

[Rachel]

We will have 3 all at once.

 

Growing up in a blended family, my parents had 5 kids within 3 years of each other. In other words 5 teenagers, living at home together for 6 years! I don't always agree with my mom but I have a lot of sympathy for those years.

[Murphy101]

I have had 4 for a year, then five for the last 5 years.

I will have five teens for the next 3 years.

Then a year with four teens.

5 years with 3 teens.

4 years with 2 teens

And then just 1 unless something there's another arrival at some point.

 

And that was an interesting thought distraction from the rrands I should be doing right now. One of which is making a purchase list for the IHM conference.

[6packofun]

Five of our six were all teens for one year.  *shrug*  lol

[Carrie12345]

Three... but it feels like so many for so long!

 

Last year, 18, 14, 13

Currently, 19 next month, 15, 14.

Then I'll have (estimated):

16, 15

17, 16

18, 17, 13

19, 18, 14

19, 15

16, 13

17, 14

18, 15

19, 16

17

18

19

DONE!

 

(I genuinely adore teenagers, but holy cow!)

[Guest]

I had two teenagers and a toddler at the same time. The toddler gave me perspective on the teenager tantrums and coincidentally was an abnormally easy toddler, so at least my fellow toddler-parents didn't think I was the worst, most incompetent parent in the entire history of parenthood.

 

I'm skeered of having to do it all over again without the toddler.

 

What a wimp, I know; I've only got one "caboose baby" and I can still stick my fingers in my ears and say that 9 1/2 isn't a preteen, it's Jane Moffat's age in The Moffats and Jane is very much a little girl.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Guest

[frogger]

My teens are fabulous. I hate for this time to end but feeding them! They can't stay teens forever or we would never ever be able to retire. 

[Joyofsixreboot]

My baby is 9. She is the last non-teen. The oldest will be 27 when she turns 13.

 

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[happypamama]

I will probably only have three teens at once, but I'll have three a few times. And I will have teens for a long time. My current youngest is three, so when he's thirteen, my oldest will be twenty-four. But if we have another one, there will be at least a sixteen year spacing between that one and our oldest.

[melmichigan]

Right now I have 17, 14, 14.  It breaks down like this for the coming years

18, 15, 15, 13

19, 16, 16, 14

17, 17, 15, 13

18, 18, 16, 14

19, 19, 17, 15

18, 16

19, 17

18

19

 

[Ali in OR]

We had 3 teen girls for about 15 months. I thought it was impressive, but it's not going to stand out around here!

 

My mom had 4 kids in 5 years, so we must have had 4 teens for awhile when we were growing up. 18, 17, 14, 13 and 19, 18, 15, 14. But my oldest brother went off to college at 18, so there were just three of us at home most of the time.

[edelweiss]

I only have 2 children and they are both teens now. I can't imagine having more than 2! I'd never survive it! I loved having little ones and having teens is not nearly as enjoyable.

[Tap]

We only had 2 teens at one time for 2 years.....bat that also means that we will have teens in our house for a total of 16 years  OY!!  LOL 

[foxbridgeacademy]

DS13 turned 13 today, so we now have five teenagers in our family. Four live here and DS19 is living with DS27 this summer. Fortunately, we will have all seven children home on Saturday! :)

 

In October, four of our five teenagers will have learner's permits. I warned my neighbor, "If you see us coming down the road, IT'S NOT US!" :ohmy:

 

We had five in diapers once upon a time. Teenagers are MUCH better, IMO. :thumbup1:

 

What was/is/will be your "teenager high-water mark"?

We also had 5. My 2nd DD was 19 (but she lives in our home state), DSD was 16, DN was 15, DS was 15, and DD was 13 (I also have a DD 21).  My nest is starting to empty.... DN has decided to live with his mom for now :crying: , DSD will likely move back to her previous town when she turns 18 (her brother and friends all live there).  I am hoping to convince 2nd DD and her brand new husband to move down here but right now her dad is paying her bills while she finishes school and I don't blame her for sticking around up there.

 

(add 1 year for current ages)

Edited July 14, 2017 by foxbridgeacademy

[Melissa in Australia]

4 teens when one turned 20 there was only a short time until we were back to 4 again.

Currently 3 teens, but only 2 living at home

[medawyn]

We will have four teens for about two years, but we've maxed out at three in diapers at one time.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

When the time comes, we'll have four teens for about 6 months or so.  

[Guest]

Two teens at a time, max, because of the age gap. FWIW, I enjoy mothering older children much more than I did little children. Thankfully, my "UGH! TEENAGERS!" Events have been few. Although I would rather potty-train ten kids than teach one to drive.

[Mimm]

By the time Youngest is a teen, both her older sisters will have left their teen years (and my home!) :)

[RegGuheert]

We had 3 teen girls for about 15 months. I thought it was impressive, but it's not going to stand out around here!

That IS impressive!  Even though we have five teenagers right now, we have never had more than ONE teen girl. :tongue_smilie:

[foxbridgeacademy]

Two teens at a time, max, because of the age gap. FWIW, I enjoy mothering older children much more than I did little children. Thankfully, my "UGH! TEENAGERS!" Events have been few. Although I would rather potty-train ten kids than teach one to drive.

I LOVE babies but my next favorite age is without a doubt teenagers.  I have been lucky that none of mine have given me much trouble.... so far.

[RegGuheert]

Next year I'll have 19, 18, 16, 14, and 13.

 

I only ever had 3 in diapers at once, though.

It appears that there are now eleven of us with a high-water mark of 5.  No sixes, though.

 

Thinking about this, I MUST be wrong about the diapers.  I really don't think DS19 was still in diapers at age 6.  We MIGHT have had four in diapers at once, but it was probably three like you.

 

Perhaps what I was remembering is 5 in car seats.

 

[PrincessMommy]

I've had 5 kids who were teenagers at the same time.  

[Melissa in Australia]

The only time I had 2 in nappies at the same time was the twins, and they should have been trained before they came to me as they were already 3 1/2.

 

I toilet trained all my biological children before the next one was born, so before they were 2. That was the normal age to toilet train toddlers when I had my children.

[RegGuheert]

Although I would rather potty-train ten kids than teach one to drive.

We can certainly relate to that!  Here are a couple of facts to consider:

 

1)  One of DD24's professors at college taught her to drive.  THERE'S a debt we can never repay! :hurray:

2)  DS19 does not want to learn to drive.  He just wants to purchase an autonomous car.  I don't think he has thought this thing through.  (He has DS27 driving him to work this summer.)

3)  DS17 is doing well with his driving, but he still has his moments.  A couple of months ago we approached a light (which he has been to MANY times) which turned red as he approached.  He slowly drifted to a stop RIGHT IN PATH OF THE 55 MPH CROSS STREET!  I'm yelling "GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!"  Fortunately there was no 18-wheeler coming at that particular time, so I'm here to type about it.  I asked him why he didn't stop at the line and he told me that he didn't want to press the brake pedal too hard.  I told him he needs to press that pedal as hard as he needed to get stopped before that line!

 

Anyway, the twins turn 15 years 6 months in October and will get their learner's permits.  Then when we go out, we will only be able to teach at most two of the three drivers-to-be who currently live here.

 

[Meriwether]

Four by a few months. I'll have three for 7 years. Then just one or two for a decade.

[DesertBlossom]

I will have four teenagers, and for several years. Number 5 will turn 13 just a few months after #1 turns 20 though.

[RegGuheert]

O.K. After 150 votes, let's run the statistics on "teenager high-water mark":

 

Mean: 2.87 Teenagers

Standard Deviation: 1.06 Teenagers

Mode: 3 Teenagers

Maximum: 5 Teenagers

Minimum: 1 Teenager

Range: 4 Teenagers

 

Other: 1 (But other was ZERO for nearly 24 hours!  A new record!)

 

What does it all mean?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! :lol: :lol: