Teen and Tween Round-up: Surviving girls and boys

These days, lots of people are into gender-neutral parenting. But, when they get to their teens, it’s clear that boys and girls are VERY different. This months we’ve got a few posts on that very subject. Do you agree?

It has to happen at some point – your teenager gets their first girlfriend or boyfriend. At TeenTweenToddler, ‘the boyfriend’ has been making himself at home, so Sharon has let him know their house rules. What would you do?

Still on the subject of boyfriends, Tanya at Polka Dots and Cups of Tea has been talking to her daughters about what is bad about boys. It makes very interesting reading and I think it’s safe to say that times don’t really change!

It’s getting close to that time of year again – exam time! Over at Motherhood Journeys, Corinne’s son is in his GCSE year and he’s feeling the pressure. Of course, exams are important, but are they more important than a young person’s emotional health?

Think mum’s taxi does a fair few miles with football, ballet, horse riding and Scouts? Just you wait! Best Dad I Can Be warns us that the kids take it to a whole new level when they go to university…

Talking of driving, Suzanne at 3 Children and It has a job on offer. The hours are long, the pay is appalling and you will be required to drive long distances at short notice. Yes, she’s handed in her notice as mother to teenage girls.

Just in case those of us with boys started feeling smug about how much easier our lives are, Chelsea Mamma warns us to think again! I may only have one teenage boy at the moment, but a lot of this is remarkably familiar!

The final post on the subject of boys and girls comes from my blog, MumofThree World, in which I ponder the question of boys giving up on their music lessons when they go to secondary school. Is it a boy thing or is this just my son’s school?

Spots are a teenage rite of passage. But how many is too many? And what do you do if your child is genetically more likely to get them? As someone who still has acne at 41, that’s a big issue for me.

Did you watch Cyberbully on Channel 4 recently? For a parent of teens, it was a sobering and scary reminder of the power of social media over our children. So just how does a teenager use social media? Over at Typecast, Nickie found out from her 15 year old son just what he does on social media. You may be surprised by her findings.

That’s about all for this month. If you have any posts on teenagers or tweens you’d like to share, please add them to the link below.

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.