Grumpiness - The onset of teenhood

Short family outing to the top of a hill

Nigel is just a year and a half away from turning thirTEEN and I'm closely monitoring him for signs of grumpiness and moody behaviour. I want to be aware when those teeny hormones begin to kick in and he becomes a different person altogether. We were all teenagers once and we know what it was like to hit puberty and feel like nobody in the world understands you.

If I had a say in things, I would either have our kids grow until 11 years old and stop there or jump magically from 11 straight to 25. Those in-between years spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E in so many ways that I feel faint just thinking about it.

Oh well - I have a feeling it would be worse when it comes to the girls.