10 WAYS TO GET ON A TEENAGERS NERVES

OKAY, I AM THE MOTHER OF A TEENAGER AND HE INSISTED THAT I PUT THIS OUT THEIR TO ALL THE PARENTS.  I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS IS GOING SO FORGIVE ME!

1. Giving the same lecture over and over. They insist that they heard you the first time.
   
2. Asking a lot of questions. I then had the nerve to ask "questions about what"? and I got the look of death.
   
3. Acting too cool. They want us to be their parent.  
   
4. Choosing their friends. From what I understand the more you try to do this the more it is going to backfire.  They are away from us all day, they have hours to spend with these so called friends that you don't like.
   
5. Spying on them.  Now for me this is one of those things that I agree with.  I believe in being more upfront.  I am not going to spy. I am going to tell you that I am looking.
   
6. Acting perfect. This was a big one.  My son and I have a good relationship because I have always been human. He knows the things that I did when I was his age. Parents need to stop walking around as if they did not commit sins in their youth. It would be easier to parent with the truth instead of with fear.
   
7. Say one thing and do another.  How can you raise responsible children if you are not responsible.  
8. Talking about them positively or negatively to your friends.  This is a big one because I can remember getting in trouble as a teenager and listening to one of my parents tell a friend made me want to tell my parents personal information to my friends. Just to hurt them.
9. Comparing them to others.  Child comes home with a bad report and the first thing parent says is why can't you be more like "so and so's " child.  None of us wants to be compared to anyone else. Our children are unique and they should be judged against their own abilities.  That requires knowing them.
10. Asking them their opinion then knocking that opinion down.  First they are a part of us but they are not us. They are traveling down a different journey and they will have many ideas that we do not support and attacking those thoughts is not going to help them be thinkers of the world. Another thing, as youth they are forever changing, they might feel how you feel in 10 years.  Tell them how you feel but do not knock how they feel.