Ok, how many times a day does your teenage daughter lovingly thwack you, disdainfully sneer, roll her eyes, shake her head, or commit some other derisive geture in response to bad puns, apparent lack of logic in an explanation, boredom with repeated adages or tales, or plain disinterest or lack of understanding or knowledge of something you’ve uttered?
I’ll start: On average 27. 
Philo
WhatEVER. accompanied by disgusted eyeroll
Get a lot of those around here. If you haven’t yet, btw, you really should read 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter and other tips from a beleaguered father [not that any of them work] by W. Bruce Cameron. It’s really funny.
Carol
My 20 year old didn’t understand why I demanded her to remove her butt from bed before noon everyday, so she moved out and now sneers, rolls her eyes and all the other great traits over the phone. She did however leave her apprentice behind to take over the task. My 9 year old daughter!! I can already see the DNA embedded teenage girl traits coming out in her.
does it just have to be DAUGHTERS??? My sons (17 and 13) are very good at that, too.
Of course, I, on the other hand, have profected the art of totally embarressing them!
Missy
In my experience the male of the species avoids almost completely these obnoxious behaviours. Most teenage males I have met are early to rise, respectful to parents, hardworking, polite and greatful. Perhaps laziness, rudeness, and discontent with parents is genetically hardwired into females?
Chris
Mine don’t do that much. My eldest pouts and feels sorry for herself and the youngest glares. They both like to storm outside though when their delicate sensibilities have been offended by such concepts as “work”, “picking up after yourselves” etc have been broached. Thwacking wouldn’t happen.
Phil…I’ve got it in stereo (nearly 15 and 13). I have to say though that it’s almost always Dad who’s uncool. I can just about keep up with the girls’ hormones, mood swings, ups’n’downs. Their Dad’s still mystified at mine and, naturally, I’m the most easy going, calm, understanding individual this side of the Atlantic 
Really though, it’s the 7yo (boy) who is by far the most moody, but with 4 sisters he feels he has a right to be…it’s just so tiring trying to be different from the girls in every way he can dream up :roll:
Trisha
Oh and the thwacking they lovingly reserve for each other…sigh.
Trisha
I’ve been very fortunate. My daughter is 19 and at her worst, maybe 3 times per week. I’m a lucky dad.
I used to cringe when my sister talks back to my parents. But they never laid a finger on her so I stopped worrying.
I got a black eye back in 2000 for answering back. Six slaps on the same cheek really gets the message across.
You’d have to ask my spouse. I think he feels very ganged up on, but would consider me almost as culpable in his condition as our daughters, ages 17, 15, and 14.
Because there seems to be something lurking on the Y chromosome which causes the males of our gene pool (husband and 12 year old son included) to sometimes be not quite tuned in to the operative frequency, the girls tend to rely on the matriarchy when they need any decisive advice, actions, decisions, etc…Just ask the dog, (a girl.) It’s a really alpha-female culture here.
Wow. I hope it doesn’t sound too nasty. We love the guys…we really do, and we try not to overwhelm them.
Ok, now the other shoe: She also happens to be self motivated (has always done her homework before anything else without ever being told), does very well in school, earns the respect of her peers and teachers, is well organized, trustworthy, has wonderful values and displays generally really sound judgment. Think I should forgive those little thwacks?
Daddy Philo
They can have an entire conversation with a parent just using sighs, eyes, breaths and looks, but when talking to friends on the phone they need at least 2 hours all verbal too.
I can’t believe our kids don’t think we’re cool??? I mean, we play the whistle, learn lots of old traditional songs and hang out on the internet with other people who play the whistle and talk about cool things like; whistles, people who make whistles, people who play whistles, and stuff like that. They’re the one’s who aren’t cool!!! What is their problem? They just need to shut up and learn Morrisons Jig or something!!!
Yes Nick. My 15 year old, in particular, is very, ahem, impressed by my coolness as exhibited by my participation in C&F discussions. :roll:
My teenage boys (16 and 19) informed me recently that they think it’s great that I’ve taken up the whistle - but it embarrasses them that I get “too excited” about the subject.
Kim
Should I be frightened that my 10-1/2 year old is already exhibiting these behaviors??
~Ad
My “boys”, they’re 23 and 27, don’t give me any flack about the whistles but they, also, don’t get too excited about it, lest I embarrass them. However, the 23 yr old told us just yesterday that whenever he runs into a high school buddy he hasn’t seen for a while the friend also asks him how we, his mom and dad, are. He said his friends think we are cool. I wonder where they got that idea.
Mike
I strive to out eye-roll, sneer, sigh my 16yr old daughter, who’s pretty proficient. (I think she learned from me, so I can’t say too much.) She never misses a chance to call me a nerd for playing whistle, so I retaliate by playing Six Penny Money, which is a code for being deliberately irritating to her. If she passes through the room while I’m playing something else, I immediately switch to 6PMoney and she runs from the room. I yell, “You know you love it.” We also trade insults trying to make the other one smile. That’s usually by doing an exagerated parody of the other one’s quirky behavior.
She told me once that she was knocking me at school by saying I wear plaid shirts and sit in my room playing Irish music on the tin whistle ‘24/7’ and some kid said “Your dad’s cool.”
Tony
Of course you’re cool, Tony ~ Just look at you!!!
I have all sons, now ages 13, 15, 17 and 21.
They LOVE their mom!
No one makes fun of me… heehee
(Once we had family charadeS in which everyone tried to guess which member of the family ~ it was HILARIOUS!!!)
m