Is a "Kevin" moment par for the course ?

[Mammuzza]

Today I saw my son as a "teenager proper" for the first time. He is just shy of his 14th birthday.

It was just a discovery of something in his bedroom right after his (startling) reaction to something he would normally let roll off him like water off a duck's back... and I suddenly saw that changes had crept up and ..yup... I have a real live "proper" teenager.

Did anybody else have a sudden lightbulb moment when they noticed their kid wasn't basically still a kid, just with a teenagery number, but actually a real live one IYSWIM.

Or did it just sort of gradually happen over time with no "Kevin" moment ?

I can't work out if I haven't been paying enough attention (I'm racking my brain, but can't think of any significant signs), or if it really has been quite a rapid transition with... flaring hormones or something.

[Travelledtheworld]

Happened suddenly with my DS who shot up overnight and then turned into a Kevin over about a month just short of age 13. Went from being a sweet and smiling little boy to huge sullen teenager lying prone on the sofa for hours at a time.
I found the Kevin the Teenager video very reassuring.

At just over 14 DS seems to have suddenly matured and is occasionally a polite and helpful young man.

[PittTheYounger]

Do you mean size or surliness? The latter is not inevitable

[Lally112]

Just the one kevin moment? you should be so lucky - this evolves into a weekly occurrence for most teenagers. I even remember having the odd few myself.

[Mammuzza]

Just one "Kevin" moment.

Sort of.

He got really cross, in a situation where .. he would be mildly irritsted at worst. He hasn't been properly cross since he was four and threw his last wobbly.

And then he stomped off upstairs to "work out to let off steam". Which was when I discovered a random dumb bell in his room. That I had no idea he had. Let alone was using.

It just feels all a bit sudden and strange. Like he sort of transitioned to real teenager-ship overnight, or behind my back.

Not sure I am ready for this. I was a godawful teenager.

Does it skip a generation ?

[Lally112]

I don't think so, It would be lovely if it did skip a whole generation though. I'm dreading DD's transition to teenager but I suppose the advantage I have is I wrote the book on being a shit of a teenager so telling me she is staying with friends and actually being out all night with boys isn't going to fly. Nor will the chewing gum hides the smell of vodka trick or the masses of body spray to hide the smell of smoke trick. One wise old weasel here.

[Mammuzza]

I like the way you think. Forewarned is forearmed with knobs on.

He seems back to his sunny self today. And has agreed to leave the dumbell alone until I can find out if it is potentially damaging for such young tendons. On the understanding that if he really wants it, and my gym mate says it's OK, he can start doing it. But only after gym mate has shown him how to do it safetly if needs be.

I feel like I got a waft of breeze from Damocles' sword making its first pass yesterday. So I'm not getting over confident that the above means it's all done and dusted. Might mean the first tiny spark of things yet to come.

[MedusaIsHavingaBadHairday]

Get used to it
My eldest DS turned from a sweet natured cuddly little boy into a morose git, who then went for smoking, stealing from us, lying, wall smashing.... you get the picture!

3 years of hell and then the hormones settled (thank GOD!) and now at 21 he is back to being a sweet natured, cuddly, fabulous young man who doesn't smoke, steal, lie (or no more than the rest of us!) and apart from his hideous shakespearian beard, is just like the little boy I loved so much!

On the other hand my other three went through puberty and teens without too much drama !!!

Wine helps...

[Mammuzza]

True, my sister just stayed lovely. It could happen.

But then... my brother went from lovely/cuddly to lying/stealing nightmare.... and never came out the other side.

The uterus is such a badly designed organ. What we really need it to be is an individual user manual. So we can game plan rather than guess about the child we have, at all ages and stages.

I am not enjoying all this uncertainty.

Is there a reason why we time study for important "option impacting" exams around the when they are liable to be at their most unpredictable ?

Or was that just a masterstroke of sadistic bastsrdyness from our great leaders ?

[DisgraceToTheYChromosome]

DD was "Satan with hair straighteners" from 12 to 16.

Not badly behaved outside, but the contempt and spite indoors...dear God. Then she got all lovely again. Also lost 5 stone because she wasn't eating from unhappiness.

One odd thing: still sucks her thumb in private.