Teen and Tween Round-up: Been there and done that

It’s raining, it’s pouring… The old man may not be snoring, but I bet your teens are. It’s half-term after all, what’s the point in getting up?

So what have our teens and tweens been getting up to this month? And what have our parents been writing about them? It’s great to see that once more we have some new teen and tween parent bloggers giving us their words of wisdom, along with the regulars (hello 3 Children and It and Best Dad I Can Be!).

One of our first-timers here, Tracy at The Williams World, has recently realised she is the proud owner of a tween! And he’s just started secondary school. She shares some of the changes she’s seen over those first few weeks. Apparently he’s showering every day now and taking care of his hair! Wonder if he’d like to have a word with my eldest, who’s a whole year older, but still doesn’t seem to have got the ‘shower every day’ memo?!

I can really relate to Touchline Dad’s post this month – on how dads want their boys to be tough on the football field. Dads don’t want their sons to show a soft side. It’s down to the mums to notice when the boys are hurt or upset on the pitch (that’s what I do myself and I get accused of ‘mollycoddling’).

Which leads me seamlessly into my own post for this month at MumofThree World. I wasn’t sure what to share, but this post seemed to fit so well with what Touchline Dad was saying – all about the extreme highs and extreme lows of a tough morning’s rugby for my younger son.

Our mums talked some rubbish when we were growing up, didn’t they? Ooh, take your coat off when you’re inside or you won’t feel the benefit. Hang on a minute! Suzanne at 3 Children and It has realised she’s saying this and a lot of her mum’s other phrases. Yes, as our children enter their teenage years, we realise our parents were right all along and we start to turn into our mums.

One of the best things you can do as the parent of a teenager is be embarrassing. Whether accidentally or, even better, deliberately. It’s one of the best weapons teen parents have in their armoury. But after years of being an embarrassing dad, Best Dad I Can Be’s youngest son has got his own way of dealing with the issue.

Not Supermum has done my job for me this month! I’m including two posts from her here. The first is about the changes in kids from the age of about 10 onwards and the importance of choosing your battles. Then she’s compiled a brilliant post including some fab bloggers who’ve been there and done that – all sharing their experiences of parenting teenagers.

Barbie Bieber and Beyond gives us a useful introduction to teen slang. It reads like an amusing post at first, but keep reading – it has a serious message. There are some abbreviations and slang we need to be aware of if we see them on our kids’ phones or laptops as they could indicate they’re getting themselves into dangerous situation. ASL – that’s age/ sex/ location apparently. LMIRL – let’s meet in real life. If you see these cropping up, it’s time for a conversation with your teen IRL (see what I did there?!).

Stressy Mummy hit a milestone this month. She is now the fully-fledged parent of an adult! She shares with us some of the things she has learned in 18 years of parenting in a post which is both funny and heart-warming.

Well that’s about it for next month. If you blog about tweens or teens, why not share a post with us next month? We’re always happy to hear from different bloggers. And if you can’t wait until then, there’s a linky right there below, just stick your post on! See you next month.

About Sarah Wood

Sarah is mum to a teenage boy and a tween boy and girl. When it comes to primary school stuff, she's got it sussed. But she's realising that as secondary school and puberty hit, she's still got a lot to learn! Between tweeting, blogging and parenting, Sarah is a freelance PR and copywriter, who still finds time to run long distances and eat a lot of chocolate. It doesn't leave much time for housework.