Teenaged Communication or The Lack Therof

One of the struggles with having a teenaged son, I think, is basic communication. Maybe it’s just my son who is so stubborn. Maybe it’s just my son who thinks that he knows it all at the tender age of 18. No, I think it’s teenagers in general. I do remember thinking my mother was stupid when I was that age, and that there was no way she could ever understand my reasoning, but I don’t remember being so blatantly rude to her.

Take swearing for example. My son seems to think that the F-word is acceptable in any situation. I can’t seem to make him understand that the word is not only unacceptable but when used in everyday conversation connotes a person of low class. I thought I brought him up better than that, but apparently at a certain age all the pearls of wisdom that I have thrown his way have been discarded. I have now taken to merely hanging up on him when he begins to use that language on the phone, or walking out of the room when he goes on his tirade. Trouble is that it is a little hard to push him out of a moving vehicle especially when he is driving! I told him in no uncertain terms that I am highly offended by that word; doesn’t seem to matter.

There are other things that he does that simply drive me up the wall, but I go on for pages and pages. Suffice it to say that I can’t wait until all the neurons in is brain find their connection when he is 24 – at least that is what studies say. Then maybe I have a decent conversation with him and he might just begin to think that I have lived a long enough life to have gained a little bit of intelligence to reply in a civilized manner.