You Might Have a Teen Son If...

[scrapbookbuzz]

...you often hear, 5 minutes after a family meal, "I'm hungry."

...said son sleeps close to 10 - 12 hours a night.

...said son grows every.single.day. and thus...

...said son cannot NOT run into walls, doors, etc.

Anything else?? B-)

 

[scrapbookbuzz]

Yes. Yes, you are. And it's just begun! Mwahahaha! 😉

[WendyLady]

Isn't it great?  I have all sisters (6) and we have 3 daughters and one son. Our son is our youngest, at 16 years old.  My sisters and I and my daughters are all short (mostly) dd is 5'5" which is super tall for the rest of us.  I'm 5'2" - I'm pretty sure I didn't grow taller after about 6th grade.

Ds16 has caught up to his dad and seems to still be growing.  He is getting close to 6' tall.  Watching the miracle of a real actual growth spurt has been amazing.  And clumsy and awkward and hungry and sleepy and all arms and legs!!

[73349]

22 minutes ago, scrapbookbuzz said:

Anything else?? B-)

 

You wish you had invested in the shoe industry a decade or two ago.

[Arcadia]

Spends more time in the bathroom “dolling up” (No girl interest)

Wonders if he should try using the shaver for beard/mustache

wears clothing and shoes from the men’s department 

You are the shortest person in the house and you no longer need to get a stool to reach for items on higher shelves, just yell for a teen to help.

[scrapbookbuzz]

19 minutes ago, whitehawk said:

You wish you had invested in the shoe industry a decade or two ago.

Seriously!

[PinkTulip]

You spend $200+ at Costco or the grocery store and 90% of it is gone the next day. 

[scrapbookbuzz]

15 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Spends more time in the bathroom “dolling up” (No girl interest)

Wonders if he should try using the shaver for beard/mustache

wears clothing and shoes from the men’s department 

You are the shortest person in the house and you no longer need to get a stool to reach for items on higher shelves, just yell for a teen to help.

The last two especially! My ever-growing-young-man wears a 15W in shoes already!

[scrapbookbuzz]

1 minute ago, PinkTulip said:

You spend $200+ at Costco or the grocery store and 90% of it is gone the next day. 

Or, you buy same amount of food, only for the man-child to stare at it and say, "Do we have any food?" or "I don't know what to eat."

[ElizabethB]

9 minutes ago, PinkTulip said:

You spend $200+ at Costco or the grocery store and 90% of it is gone the next day. 

My husband has twin brothers about 2 years younger than him.  When they were all teens, my MIL filled up her car weekly with food from the commissary and had to resupply weekly.  My husband has stories about how much they ate.  (And, the they includes him!)

Edited January 27, 2020 by ElizabethB

[Arcadia]

35 minutes ago, scrapbookbuzz said:

The last two especially! My ever-growing-young-man wears a 15W in shoes already!

My teens has slowed down in the feet growing aspect. DS15 is in size 11.5 and DS14 is in size 10. My husband wears size 11 so I think DS15 is at most going to be in size 13. Marshall’s do carry larger sizes for shoes. 
DS14 isn’t picky about food while picky DS15 can cook (because he is picky)

[MEmama]

There is always someone around who can reach the spider on the ceiling...

[mmasc]

2 hours ago, whitehawk said:

You wish you had invested in the shoe industry a decade or two ago.

YEEEEESS! Shoes. So,many.shoes. I have 3 sons. It’s not that they have a plethora of different styles, but they just need a new pair of running shoes like every 5 minutes. 😂 either bc they’ve worn them out completely, or it’s time for another size. 

[ScoutTN]

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

wears clothing and shoes from the men’s department 

Oh, yes, for over a year! My 12 yo is 5'10" and wears a size 12.5 shoe! 

 

[ScoutTN]

...your morning person is no longer one. He's wide awake and talkative at 11 pm and later , and so
...requires earth moving equipment to get himself out of bed in the morning
 

[Junie]

You wonder why there is so much food in the fridge... until you remember that your teen boy is away at college.

The girls don't eat nearly so much.

....you are looking for new pants every other week

my 14yo is 6’1”, but he wears a 28W36L...do you know how hard those are to find???  He’s still growing, alas not in circumference.  Last summer I was trying to figure out what he was doing to his back.  My friend and then his doctor said he had stretch marks because he was growing so fast.  At least his next brother at 12 looks like he might be better proportioned to hold up his pants with **needing** the belt.

[IfIOnly]

3 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

....you are looking for new pants every other week

my 14yo is 6’1”, but he wears a 28W36L...do you know how hard those are to find???  He’s still growing, alas not in circumference.  Last summer I was trying to figure out what he was doing to his back.  My friend and then his doctor said he had stretch marks because he was growing so fast.  At least his next brother at 12 looks like he might be better proportioned to hold up his pants with **needing** the belt.

Both my oldest and his best friend have stretch marks on their backs. They're both slender and a bit on the the taller side for their age, so yes, must be from growing!

He wears the same shoe size as his dad.

Keeping deodorant, gel, and zit cream stocked is a part-time job.

You strategically pick-up and don't dare turn their underwear right side out until you pull them out of the dryer. 

You finally invest in that ozone machine you always wanted because you have a legitimate need for it to remove stink from your teen's room, not just to keep the house smelling super fresh and amazing.

They wear your husband's clothing and you constantly mistake them for him. Do they do this in purpose just to mess with me? Is it just us or do your guys grab dad's shirts too? 

Edit: even though you've never been much of a making-desserts mom before (buy, yes, bake, no), you start making them just to add another way to cheaply fill them up and find doing so makes you the best. mom. ever. Who knew? I swear my teens love language = food!

Edited January 28, 2020 by IfIOnly

[Arcadia]

9 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

my 14yo is 6’1”, but he wears a 28W36L...do you know how hard those are to find???  He’s still growing, alas not in circumference.  

 

DS15 has a 23” waist. He wears 30x32 with belt. 

7 hours ago, IfIOnly said:

They wear your husband's clothing and you constantly mistake them for him. Do they do this in purpose just to mess with me? Is it just us or do your guys grab dad's shirts too? 

 

My teens doesn’t like my husband’s selection of shirts and it’s hard to grab wrongly as DS15 needs slim fit for shirts while DS14 shirts are mostly red in color.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

My oldest turns 13 this week.  His newest pair of shoes are the same size as DH's, but he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet.  Not looking forward to it!  

[kbutton]

His voice changes, and suddenly no one can tell his voice apart from your brother's voice (or husband's/father's, etc.). 

[Junie]

Oh, the voice change.

Ds19's voice has become very low.  All during Christmas break I had to keep asking him to repeat everything he said.  In a house with five girls, my ears are just not trained to pick up his really low bass voice. 

[Farrar]

I live in a neighborhood without a lot of families. There are no spaces for bagging and not many full size carts at the Trader Joe's. I've literally never seen anyone with full size cart actually filled except around Thanksgiving. I always feel like I have to over-explain myself. Like, "I have twin teen boys. Please understand. This bulk of food is not for me. I know it's unusual."

[Sherry in OH]

You tell them to keep their hands off the ceiling.  

 

[BarbecueMom]

19 hours ago, whitehawk said:

You wish you had invested in the shoe industry a decade or two ago.

A family member works at a shoe company and buys my kids their shoes in the next couple sizes up for like $1/pair (returns, display models, slight imperfections, etc.).  We have Rubbermaid bins of shoes for kids to grow into.

Then my 11yo grew FOUR SHOE SIZES (and I think we skipped one) in nine months last year.  So not only did he need new sneakers that we didn't have stored up yet, he needed sandals and baseball cleats (ended up buying three pairs) and nicer shoes and hunting/snow boots.  I buy as much second-hand as I can, and my dad sends hand-me-downs from my 15yo brother, but still I spent a fortune in shoes last year.  I'm dreading it happening again with the same child this year... plus the next one in line.  At least we're prepared for him.

18 hours ago, PinkTulip said:

You spend $200+ at Costco or the grocery store and 90% of it is gone the next day. 

I've been experimenting with only going to Costco every 5-7 weeks, which ends up being about $700 just for the food portion, and I have to bring someone along to push a second cart.  The employees always ask me if I'm throwing a party.  Not really, I just have three boys (although it's kind of like a loud party where the guests never leave...).  The next several years should be fun, when the older two become full-fledged teens and the youngest starts inhaling everything in sight for every meal, not just breakfast.  Real conversation last week - Me: "Do you want a smoothie, cereal, or eggs?"  DS6: "Sure, that all sounds good."  I'd get a job in 7 years to pad the grocery budget, but I'm pretty sure I'll need the time to shop more often, too!

[Janeway]

You might have teen sons if you know to volunteer to drive the group of boys to whatever activity instead of picking up the group of boys because you KNOW what a car full of boys smells like after they have been out and active. Just saying.....

[KatieJ]

I am smiling reading this thread as has all been true in my home.

Enjoy as one day you’ll turn around and they will be husbands and fathers and you will wonder where the years went!

[Tree Frog]

4 hours ago, Sherry in OH said:

You tell them to keep their hands off the ceiling.  

 

Ds has a loft bed. When we get rid of the bed, we'll need to paint the ceiling. Both his hand and foot prints are on it! 😂

[wintermom]

You know you have THREE teen boys when...

- you pretty much buy milk, cereal and bread everyday

- you can't keep track of how tall any son is at any point in time (passport applications right now is nuts!)

- there is sports equipment everywhere - most of it pretty stinky!

- you buy footwear often

- the clothing style here is: comfort = sweatpants and t-shirts and hoodies = that is the ONLY things they wear 😂

 

[Arcadia]

Regarding shoes:

My husband is a shopaholic so he wants to buy me more shoes despite my informing him every time we shop together that I have at least 45 new pairs of shoes in waiting.

DS15 wears size 11.5 or 12 depending on the brand. Whatever new shoes my husband bought for him that has not been worn goes to DS14 who wears size 9 or 10 brand dependent as spares. Whatever new shoes both kids can’t wear, my husband could use as spares as he wear size 10.5 or 11.

[Arcadia]

Regarding grocery shopping, I have a small fridge due to house layout. My nearest supermarket is a 10mins walk down the road and is open from 5am to 1am. If I am lazy, I walk there when my husband leaves his office and he picks me up on the way home.