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Teenagers and Birthdays: Pad Patter 8.10.15.

jenevang

jenevang

Rocking a two-piece under my scrubs
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My son is 17 today. How did that happen? Holy Smokes.

And of course it was a busy day with Meet the Teachers this morning and Parent Orientation tonight. (School starts Wednesday).

So, we took him for lunch and his grandparents are taking him to dinner. With his girlfriend. Again, how did that happen? Sigh.

He really just wanted to go out to eat with friends tonight but that fell through. He had no desire to do anything with us, his nerdy and embarrassing family.

And as a gift, he just wants... wait for it... money :giggle

I really, really wanted to do something else, but there is no point in buying the boy something he doesn't want. Right? Sigh again.

So, there you have it. My 1st born's birthday is a non-birthday. And he seems perfectly content about it.

Do you remember teen birthdays? Do you do anything special for your older kids birthdays? In spite of them, hehe.

And why am I experiencing mom guilt about this?
 
Ugh. Teenage boys. Mine were not too bad. One had a girlfriend who had been around so long she was part of the family (no longer :cry ) The other wasn't too big on friends. We said that we needed to have a family dinner maybe not on the exact day. Gifts I don't remember but I was more inclined to gift cards at least in these last few years.
Sorry it's kind of a bummer -- we parents are SOOOOO embarrassing you know! You're not alone anyway.
 
Sounds a lot like birthdays with my older two. They are 24 and 20 now, but we haven't really done "birthday parties" in many years. We usually go out to dinner and then cake and presents (maybe). Money is tops on their wish lists as well. I always like to have a little something for them to unwrap, but sometimes I just wrap the money lol. One year for Christmas, my oldest had only asked for money, so I wrapped up individual bills of different denominations in all different size boxes...some where huge and some were tiny. He had fun with that one. There have also been a few years that one or the other was out of town for their birthday. It sure is different when they get older.
 
my teens loves money and gift cards too. my girl never knows what she wants and tends to save her money rather than spending it. my son ... it seems to be burning a hole in his pocket the minute he gets it. my boy does still like getting gifts ... for his 15th he wanted some fancy limited edition jordans sneakers.

we usually just do a dinner and a gift and have cake. i'm honestly ok with not doing the whole big party thing anymore. but not so ok on the "we, parents, are totally embarrassing" thing. it's taking some getting used to for sure.

years ago i never thought i'd be upset to be an empty nester when the time came, but now that's so much closer i am dreading it and can see how life changing it truly can be. :( tough stuff for sure.

on a positive note. we found an awesome way to connect with him recently. we bought kayaks and have been going together exploring all kinds of cool places. we actually were less than 10 feet away from a beaver on sunday. it was pretty amazing to paddle while he swam around us. in a kayak you are so low to the water you feel like you are swimming with the beaver. my son is a rower, so he is enjoying this kayaking thing so much, since its leisurely and not competitive. and it is awesome that we get to enjoy it with him!!!
 
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my guy will be 18 the end of November.....I hear you, how did that happen?! I bought him an early birthday present while we were in Toronto, he really wanted an authentic Blue Jays Jersey, the Canada one where it is white and red with the bigger Canada flag on the sleeve (he has the red Canada Day Jays hat). I bought it (and silently cried as they swiped my credit card) and it was definitely up there in terms of what I normally spend for his birthday. Mommy guilts that he's leaving for college in a few weeks is what I am marking it down as :)

We usually just do dinner and a gift card for birthday. Mine is dinner and a movie :)
 
My 7 year old has the attitude of a teenager. After his 6th birthday he decided he didn't want birthdays anymore. I love to plan parties, it was like a dagger to my heart. I told him I'd celebrate without him since it's the day I became a mother. He finally agreed to celebrate like we do mine, a cake & pizza at home. By the time his 7th birthday came around, he agreed to let me pack small goodie bags for his class & bring popsicles. So we had a little 007 spy theme (his idea). I suspect we'll go through the same thing next year. He is very interested in planning his little brother's party though.
 
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