The study of the North American teenage male is interesting

[Duncanpup]

Watching them in there natural habitat is fascinating say when they wake up yawning scratching there bums on the way to the bathroom or bending over staring into the fridge displaying plumbers crack, or as they eat and want to clean say a hand or mouth napkins are placed on the kitchen bar.

Yet they choose to wipe their mouths with a sleeve or clean their hands on boxers. My wife says we’re channeling Jane Goodall this morning I wonder if took pictures or video if that would frighten them or make them aggressive.

[underpants]

1. Hilarious.

I haven’t heard the shower this morning so my girl may have missed her window.

Mom got the booster on Monday and was wiped out yesterday. Gee I guess I was supposed to make sure the girl was up. Oh well life lesson for her.

[Duncanpup]

2. I understand your burden as a father

[underpants]

7. Imagine being Stairdrac's folks

[Magoo48]

3. Very funny.

[PatrickforB]

4. You and your wife ought to come up to them and do chimpanzee imitations.

I do a pretty good one, and it always gets a laugh.

It is also quite fun to embarass your kids in the store, though with COVID that isn't so good now. One time when my kids were teens, we all went to Kroger. When we were in the cereal aisle, I did my 'Cuckoo for Coco Puffs!' imitation loud enough to have people looking. The kids were mortified.

Then, when we got up to the cashier, she was a young girl, maybe 18, and my son was around 15. You know, really self-conscious in front of an older girl. And my daughter was 13, so enough said there. Anyway, I told the cashier that my children had developed a comedy routine, and asked her if she wanted to see it. She said, "Sure!" and smiled.

Both kids were out of there like a shot. It was hilarious. When I got outside I found them both by the car, and my son said, "Dad, don't ever do that again!"

I didn't know about them, but now I have a couple of those little LED lights that strap onto my head. They are great if you're in an area that doesn't have good light, you know, or if you're doing some close work and need plenty of light. But I'd have loved to get inside a store with my teens and put one of those babies on.

[Duncanpup]

5. We need to hang out

[Victor_c3]

11. I've got two girls that I drive nuts like that

When they were 9 and 11, we were at the drug store and there were a bunch of tobacco and vape supplies behind the register. With my two girls next to me, I asked the cashier “how old do you need to be to buy one of those vape things? My kids have been saving their money for weeks and would like to each buy one”. The cashier didn’t know how to react and stood their with their mouth open. My youngest daughter punched me in the arm and to me to shut up and my oldest one stormed out to the car.

Another time, we were at an amusement park. My oldest was 7 years old at the time and she wanted me to go on the Viking ship/ocean motion ride with her. The whole time the ride was going I pretended that I was going to throw up and everyone around us was obviously not amused. When the ride was over, and as I was walking past the operator, I told the kid working there “I didn’t throw up, but I did kind of diarrhea-ed all over the seat on the ride back there. You guys might want to clean that up”. My daughter was so embarrassed and may at me that she wouldn’t talk to me the rest of the night.

My oldest daughter is 13 now and she has gotten very used to my antics. Now whenever I try to do something, many times she’ll go along with it.

I keep telling my kids that I’m doing them a favor. When they’re 40 years old and going to a therapists, at least now they’ll have something talk about.

[kwijybo]

6. I thought my great nephew was an outlier in the way he acted

Turns out, he's just a normal teenager.

[Ligyron]

8. Can they be trained not to drink milk directly jug to mouth?

We had one troop that we just never succeeded with in that area.

[Victor_c3]

12. I don't think there is an effective remedy to that

I’m 41 years old and my two daughters constantly yell at me for that. Maybe there is a reason my wife left me a few years back…

[Woodwizard]

9. We are past that

Now we are the main childcare for our 22 month old granddaughter, I am really enjoying teaching and watching her develop by the day.

[Victor_c3]

14. As a father, I could only imagine how rewarding that must feel

My daughters are 11 and 13 and are hopefully a few years away from having kids. I absolutely love my kids, but I can’t even imagine how much I’d love or I how it’d feel to hold my grandchildren. That’s got to be the best feeling in the world.

I’m a very involved parent. Of course I’m not happy when my kids don’t feel well or are upset about something, but nothing feels more rewarding and fulfilling to me as a man than taking care of my children. Sure, it’s a slog to clean up their bed when they throw-up in it in the middle of the night and I don’t always feel like spending my weekend working on a school project with them, but nothing makes me feel more complete as a person than to take car of my children.

My ex wife never got up in the middle of the night to feed or change my kids when they were infants - that was almost always me. She was a stay at home mom, and I don’t doubt that is a hard job, but whenever I was not at work, I was the primary caregiver. My kids have always been much closer to me than to their mother. This is despite the fact that she has had primary custody of them for the last 3.5 years. One thing I will say about my ex is that she has been great about sharing custody with our kids. I see my kids easily about half of a given week. I live about a mile away from her and every morning my kids have school, I drive to the bus stop and they get to wait in my warm and dry car. I take them to (and pay for) their doctor visits and a good portion of their clothes and school shopping.

I know this is turning into quite the rant, but I suspect that the only reason my ex wants primary custody of the kids is so she can receive child support from me. Honestly, I don’t care about the money. If she’s able to afford a nicer house and nicer quality of life because I pay child support, it’s my kids who ultimately benefit. I decided a while back that I will always live my children more than I hate the relationship ship I had with her.

My oldest daughter recently needed to go bra shopping. Rather than ask her mother, she wanted me to take her. I felt honored and touched that she felt that comfortable with me.

Again I apologize for the rant, but I look forward to the day when I get to take care of my grandchildren like I’ve taken care of my own children. That’s got to feel terrifically rewarding.

[KS Toronado]

10. Duncanpup, don't wonder, take some pictures and find out.

[OldBaldy1701E]

13. Yep.

I am a big fan of 'Fail Army' and other such video channels. I have said many times that, were it not for teenaged and early 20s males, their videos would be like 3 minutes long and they would only come out like three times a year. And also yes, embarrassing your teen boys is a great way to discipline without disciplining. As someone who also worked as a sitter for many years, it is a wonderful way to maintain control, especially when you are put in charge of a group of rambunctious boys who think they are too smart for some old dude. Worked every time.

[Duncanpup]

15. Come on over and hang out