Normal teenage boy behavior?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-30-2007
Normal teenage boy behavior?
17
Mon, 12-31-2007 - 12:52pm

Hi,


My 13 y.o. son had a tantrum yesterday and my husband and I are wondering whether this is 'normal' or if we should get help. Actually, this is about the third time it has happened in the past year or so. He is a good student and has lots of interests.


Everything was fine until my husband asked him to put on something nice for church...then all hell broke loose. He started this long tirade that included, "You won't let me

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Tue, 01-01-2008 - 9:17am

If you summarize the thousands of how-to books on raising teenagers, we find the raging hormones affect boys much different than girls; boys feel like itching powder is covering their body, with a strong fleeting urge to put their fist through a wall.


It's good to have the male perspective, especially when we moms are dealing with DSs!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Tue, 01-01-2008 - 9:20am

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2002
Tue, 01-01-2008 - 9:31am

Hi..


Totally normal in my opinion especially if they don't get violent.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
Tue, 01-01-2008 - 11:02am

My 12 year old son, going on 13, regularly experiences emotional outbursts.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-30-2007
Wed, 01-02-2008 - 3:29pm

Thank you, everyone who responded to my question. You have given me

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-02-2008
Wed, 01-02-2008 - 5:54pm
Well i think you should at least have him seen by his PCP. Only for the simple reason that he said "I should kill myself".
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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-14-2006
Wed, 01-02-2008 - 7:17pm

Hi

I have two thoughts - first, as you've heard, all of our teens have occasional meltdowns. Every once in a while my DD will have a total falling apart - when the stress of school, friends, extracurriculars, and just being a teen sort of gets too much. I try to give her time and space to have the melt down and then recover, and then we move on. The only red flag is the "maybe I should kill myself". I wouldn't want to be an alarmist, but I'd be worried if my kiddo said that.

Second, in reading your introduction post, it seems like your teen has had alot to deal with in the past 3 years - dad's death, cross country move (toward uncle but away from friends), new 'dad' and new stepsister - WHEW! That's a lot of major events. Even major events that are happy (like a wedding) are still stressful. I know that when my DH and I got married, move several hundred miles, started new jobs, and then had a baby, we were stressed. And we were adults with adult level coping skills. SO - I think finding some way to talk to your son about this, to have step-dad talk to him if their relationship is strong enough, or have uncle talk with him, or to find a counselor for him to talk to is important. Finding a male counselor might be nice.

HTH

Welcome to our board!

Sue, mom to Leah and Seth


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