Is it generational or am I remembering it wrong?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I have two grandchildren… boy 14 and girl 9.
They have thier three meals a day and a snack before bed if they request it. No fizzy drinks or squash or juices until they are 10. The lad now drinks very occasional coke when out with friends( keeping face)… and at home only milk ( some times flavoured)or
water. They are healthy and slim…. and my grandson at 14 is just about top his dad at 6 foot! He’s already topped his mums 5’10”. The granddaughter is a small 9 year old but loves her MMA classes! And apart from asthma remains very healthy. As for messy bedrooms…. yes I’m afraid ‘par for the course’…. in my experience for both my different sex kids and my grandchildren. The personal hygiene thing was no problem as I would not allow it with my own or my g/kids! Nor will their mum. Although dad is a bit lax on hygiene!

Lol did make me laugh, boys I found are like this but I also had grand daughters like it too, I was shocked when she bought 20 chicken nuggets as a snack. We were lucky to have biscuits to snack on when I was younger as husband said they never had biscuits in house just main meals no snacks couldn’t afford them, how things have changed.

I had a friend whose teenage son would pick his nose and leave it on the wall by his bed?.
I think the rest of us got off lightly.

pooohbear2811 - typo here - I meant ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) not DDD

My mother always referred to teenage boys as "Having hollow legs". It was the most reasonable explanation for the amount of food they can get through. Your GS isn't unusual. I would stop buying fizzy canned drinks for him, they are bad for you for so many reasons.
Just one warning about the shower- things will change and before you know it you will be complaining that you can't get him out!!

Brought back memories of my nephew and my friend’s son at that age. Eat the family out of house and home, constantly hungry. No personal hygiene cares, no brushing of teeth unless forced. It’s a battle with boys- I remember listening to the mother’s grumbles. It appeared they had to do everything for them until it became second nature to the individual. Remove dirty clothing, hand them the toothbrush with toothpaste applied etc. I don’t know who the boy thinks he’s fooling by denying about the snack bags/boxes. Grandmothers are not idiots.
I wish you the best of luck and hope you both remain covid free.

Hilarious thread - sorry, had to laugh !
Brings back memories I would rather forget. Mould in bedroom, shoes that could have walked out on their own the smell was so bad, a constant need for food, personal hygiene not a priority or even considered important.
Worry not, he will discover girls and the turnaround will amaze you !

Boys of 15 or so have always been able to consume enormous amounts of food - with girls it is usually in the sixth months prior to their first period that they eat like horses. But when we were that age, bread and butter was the most you could hope for over and above a meal.

The difference between now and when we were teenagers is, as you said, that we were not allowed snacks.

The received wisdom of our childhood was that children and adults needed three good meals a day Over and above that I remember being allowed 1 biscuit when the grown-ups had morning coffee if I was home from school, or one biscuit to eat with my free school milk, and if I was lucky a biscuit with the glass of milk drunk when I came home from school in the afternoon.

I would never have dreamed of helping myself to an extra biscuit or a bottle of pop, and I would have been in hot water if I had done so.

Chocolate or sweeties was a Sunday treat - the rest of the week such things were kept by my mother in a locked drawer, although we were allowed to eat any left over from the amount we had bought on the Saturday with our own pocket money.

Nowadays, children eat and drink non-stop. I don't know why their parents allow this, or how they afford it. It isn't particularly healthy as the number of overweight school-children clearly shows, nor is it good for their teeth.

No 15 year old boy I have ever known, washed, bathed, cleaned his teeth or changed into clean clothes unless forced, so your grandson is not odd there. It is normal to have to harry them until they go sulking off to the bathroom.

I would be concerned about the lying - he should not be saying he has brought his rubbish downstairs when he hasn't nor that he has cleaned his teeth when the fact of the matter was that his toothbrush was still at home.

I would ask for the clothes he takes off in the evening when he goes to bed and stick them in the washing machine. I would also insist that he washes or showers every day and I would provide one snack bag, as this is what his mother wants, but make sure there was no juice, cola etc in the house, and no biscuits, sweets or cakes either.

What are the medical issues?
Apart from being depressed at being away from family, the medical issues could have a lot to do with how much he's eating!
Plus, as you say, he's never been away from home for much time so he could be playing it up to see how much you'll take before putting your foot down!!

Good point Luckygirl

Good grief! Just glad I had 3 girls ? although one of them did hoard mugs glasses and bowls with furry bits. I have a friend who has 5 sons all now hulking great 6’++ and she made daily treks to the supermarket to stock up on cereals, bread and milk. As for shoes. They cost a fortune- all size 13 and more ?

I have 3 sons and the eldest took to leaving plates of half eaten food under his bed.
When he was at school I made his bed, but I scooped all the uneaten food complete with mould, onto the under sheet before pulling up the duvet.
He was horrified when he got into bed that night - and said I was a disgusting mother!
However, he didn’t do it again,

If he washed his body properly the towel wouldn’t be dirty! ?

A lot of it is a boy thing but 15 yr old should not need telling to wash and clean his teeth, we didn’t have cans as they were expensive, maybe keep cans and buy bottles of diluting juice as this is more thirst quenching and healthier and cheaper.
If he needs more snacks , would he eat cut up veg say with some peanut butter as a dip or more fruit, at least that is better for him, messy room , plates and cups etc, I have to put my hands up to this one myself as a teenager but I did grow out of it, eventually

My son used to buy a loaf of sliced bread on the way home from school! He’s as thin as a pin now.

Well I would struggle anyway to wash and dry ten towels a week as I have no garden or tumble drier . It is your choice but…why? Surely you are clean when you’ve showered ?!?!?

Teenage boys are horrendous with how much they eat…???

My son before and then my teenage grandsons never ceased to amaze me lol

They do grow out of it though, and start eating normally - although even young adults seem to need snacks and takeaways a lot.

To be fair, DH and I, plus my daughters family of 6, never use towels more than once either. We just don’t like doing it. ?

Luckygirl
Your choice, I am very environmentally aware over most things, so I’m not going to be guilt tripped over a few towels.

anno you’ve cracked it! ??
Having had both teenaged boys and labradors I should have seen the similarities sooner: both have boundless energy interspersed with total idleness, the ability to eat endlessly and indiscriminately, take no responsibility for their own well-being - and are nevertheless beloved. ??

Surely how often one washes one’s towels is a matter of personal taste. I am not sure about this, since the outcome of this wasteful habit has an impact on others - and on the planet.

I use my washing machine as little as I can, both because it is wasteful to do otherwise and because I have a bio-digester and the less detergent I use the better.

When you come out of the shower or bath you are, by definition, clean. You dry off the water from your clean body - the towel is wet, but not dirty. What makes it necessary to wash the towel at all is the fact that it begins to get stale if it does not dry out properly.

Surely how often one washes one’s towels is a matter of personal taste. I’m not expecting anyone else to wash them, and to be honest, if I had loads of free time I would absolutely love to have clean sheets everyday.
I don’t put the washing machine on everyday, I have a very big one which takes a lot of towels.

Assuming one is clean post bath or shower I see no reason to immediately wash said already clean but damp towel.
After use I hang towels to air on the banister etc and use until I decide it’s time to wash. Usually once a week. It’s enough.

We were on a cruise once and a young woman told us at the table that she insists on fresh towels every USE, and fresh bed linen daily too. I genuinely thought she was joking and when I realised she wasn’t I wondered about her sanity, finally wondered is she had staff . She had none. All items dried in the presumably giant tumbler. Oh, the poor planet.

Teenage boys don't eat food, they inhale food

Now I know - teenage boys are...Labradors!

I realise the thread is not about this but single use towels???? So I would be washing about ten bath towels a week ?? And I live alone ….