Is it generational or am I remembering it wrong?

Teenage boys don't eat food, they inhale food

I only have sisters. Neither I, nor my sister could believe how much food our sons got through.

I'm sure there must be a bit of generational in there too: I didn't have children but I grew up with two brothers. It would not have occurred to any of us to go rooting for food in the fridge or pantry or cupboards - they were Mum's domain and we ate what she gave us. ?

that it would have been quicker just to have a shower!!!

My son didn't arrive home one night. When I opened the car door next morning to go to work he was stretched out on the seat sleeping.
He gave us quite a time as a teenager.
I was glad when he finally grew up.

My eldest son used to go to so much trouble to convince me that he was having a shower ( wetting the soap and towel, splashing water around, putting wet foot prints on the floor etc) that it would have been quicker just to have a shower!!!

I never had the problem of him eating the ingredients for our tea before I got home as he was too lazy to cook anything, he only ate ready made stuff! My daughter used to get very upset because she could not compete with her brothers, they not only ate a lot but they also ate very fast. She used to worry that they would get to the pudding first and not leave her any so she used to sneak treats upstairs and hide them under her mattress. I used to find them there months later as she really didn’t want them but just wanted her share!

As for getting my own back, if he went out drinking and woke me up staggering up to bed, I made sure I hoovered outside his door very early in the morning!

Nannagarra

Oh, yes, those days of mashing spuds in a cement mixer…all perfectly normal.

I used to buy potatoes by the sack from a local farm!

OP sounds very like my 13-year-old GS who is a fridge-raider and can polish off every possible snack in the house single handedly. He also spends a great deal of time in on-line gaming and the cleaner hardly dare risk going into his bedroom. However, it seems salvation is at hand as his dad has joined himself and GS in the new tennis club and he is quite enthusiastic.Teenagers eventually become civilised human beings, on the evidence of his older teenage brother and cousins.

?

When I was a child I used to stay at a much-loved aunt's. She'd let myself and my sister munch on a dog biscuit! Well they were colourful and various shapes. I'd never let my grandchildren do that--but it was a different world I guess.

Oh, yes, those days of mashing spuds in a cement mixer…all perfectly normal.

Oh Hetty58 This is REAL life isn't it?

Wet towels left on the bed (x four kids) really annoyed me. I'd check whether toothbrushes were wet or dry (although one son did admit he'd just run it under the tap).

I'd pick up extra bread on my way home. One day, I walked in to find a son - and his friend - eating dog biscuits with their tea - because there was no bread left to make toast. There was food in the fridge and cupboards but they couldn't be bothered to cook it!

Like Nadateturbe *and *Luckygirl towels are used more than once. Don't think it's such a big deal really if you've been washed. I wouldn't have had enough towels anyway to have 4 of us using clean towels each daily. Don't think it's necessary IMO but understand if others do.

He sounds like a typical 15 year old. Delightful, aren't they? Just don't buy the cans of juice - there's water in the tap - much better - and give him one set of plate, bowl, mug, spoon, knife and fork etc. to use, bring down - and wash up.

They can get very hungry at that age. I give my grandson normal meals and make a pan of pasta and large fruit salad too. He makes peanut butter sandwiches, scrambled eggs or porridge as snacks. I don't allow eating upstairs. Good luck!

My ds ate for his rugby team. They had a nutritional coach and then I had to feed him vast amounts of chicken and tuna with beans and lentils. He used to eat the fruit bowl most evenings and drink a liter of ready made custard in passing. Most teenage lads are similar. Don't always assume milk is sugar free. There's a lot of sugar in it, naturally but still sugar...water is best.

Two boys here. All completely normal. One of mine was very vain so couldn’t keep him out of the bathroom and the other always had a girlfriend so that motivated him to keep clean. But the other things you mentioned - mouldy cups, ceaseless eating then sleeping etc. My cupboard used to look like the snack section of the supermarket. I used to buy lots of cheap multi bags and lots of fruit and let them do their worst. They are both slim, and work out. This teenage phase doesn’t last, it’s no fun for them as it’s awkward, so just be firm but loving.

Towels - I would not dream of just using once! What a waste of electricity and so much detergent poured into the bio-digester! No wonder the planet is on the decline.

I only had girls, but the boyfriends who got their feet under the table were pretty hungry! It was not just the quantity, but the speed that was impressive - they just hoovered it up!

One of my DDs was pretty untidy - I used to close the door on her room and tell her to deal with it herself - if it started to stink in there, then it was her problem - rotting bananas under the bed tend to whiff a bit!

Another took great pride in her room - in her own way. This involved painting the walls with murals, including a massive eagle hovering on the ceiling. And she had a very cheap and tacky white wardrobe which she improved with assorted graffiti, including an exhortation to the queen to go forth and multiply - I just kept the door closed.

It is all quite trying; but interesting to see their personalities developing as they move into adulthood.

V3ra
Oh goodness, hardly worth having a shower if you had to dry with a communal towel!

My sons never stopped eating and they were as thin as rakes. They used to have dinner and then visit grandparents and have it again.
Oldest one wrapped a towel round himself turned the shower on and sprinkled his shoulders with water. He is the fussiest person ever now.
However they didn't eat or drink as much as this young lad does. It seems quite excessive and unhealthy. I think dietary advice is needed.
Re towels. Surely if you are clean when you use it a bath towel can be used more than once.

We reuse towels as well.

And now I want toast, eggs, bacon and french toast.

Yy curlywurly, when one of mine comes home from uni he makes a massive slab of french toast for a snack which is like half a loaf covered in maple syrup. My husband suggested he might be elf

I can remember my then 16 year old son flying in from school (at 3.30pm) and making himself 4 rounds of toast with egg and bacon. We were having a wooden floor laid at the time and the joiner fitting said 'my word he's having his tea early!' I then had to explain that it wasn't his tea, merely a snack to put him on until teatime at 5.30pm!

Sara1954 when I first went to stay at my husband's parents' house I wanted to have a shower and asked him if I could please have a towel.
He went to ask his mum and I heard her say, "What's wrong with the one that's in the bathroom? It's good enough for the rest of us. Does she need one of her own?"

She found one for me, but my goodness I've always taken my own every time we've visited since!

Had three boys yes they ate but can’t remember them eating this much! They did shower and looked after their rooms was I lucky?

This thread has me doubled up.?
Yes Bibbity, stockpile now.
Have 2 sons who've long since left home. My goodness the food they get through and cereals. However the big difference is there were never any crisps and hardly any lux items. What my grandchildren get astounds me. 4 different cereals to choose from and biscuits and fruit juices.
Oh the wet towels, their bedrooms and mouldy cups.
Then they started their football team. Who got the whole teams kits to wash? ?
If I got really fed up and they wouldn't do as I asked instead of jumping up and down I'd pull the hairs on their legs. It did the trick. They were big and strong--I'm 5ft 2
He's normal. And it's temporary. I'd stop buying so much junk food though.
So sorry. Hope it won't be long before you get a reprieve. ?‍♀️