Teenage pupation

Today I'm witness to the birth of a teenager.

It's Ben's 13th birthday and although for some time we been seeing the various teen traits developing, today they're allowed to become official.

Here's what I'm seeing;

• a rejection of parental intimacy - hugs are tolerated as are cheek kisses but don't expect any returns, you just about get to land a kiss and the skin is gone a nanosecond later, as for hugs, you get as much feed back as from a log
• cheek - he's become lippier and lippier, quite entertaining at times, a good bit of word play can be most enjoyable
• obedience is slipping - to be expected as he tries to move the boundaries, fortunately we parents still control the purse strings, blackmail and bribery and corruption are rife in this household
• hygiene - he's obsessed with cleanliness, you'd think he was a god botherer who thoroughly adhered to the 'cleanliness is next to godliness' mandate, but Ben became a disbeliever many years ago, long before giving up on Santa (more evidence for Santa don't ya know)
• appearance - he's had an opinion about what he's prepared to wear for a while now, I don't dare (seriously) buy even socks or pants without his sayso, to do so risks the item being cast aside on day 1, never to be worn. The standard 'uniform' is jeans (of course) worn low to reveal the white boxers, Quiksilver T-shirt in white or black (although we have managed to get 2 yellows into the mix) a Quiksilver hoody & Converse trainers.
• he's developed an interest in cars, is currently in lust for an Audi R8 & really enjoyed helping his dad change my winter wheels over to their summer ones (while Si muttered about it)
• 'boring' is his most frequently used word
• has a low tolerance level for doing anything that we, his parents, might feel like doing, would far rather hang out with his friends (all male) wave-boarding
  
• still thinks that girls are an unnecessary part of the world in general and his class in particular, although he does seem to enjoy winding them up
• visibly squirms when there is any kissing action on TV, so of course we point it out to him
• he is constantly surprised, when testing us on our knowledge of something he's learnt at school, that we should know the answer (that so isn't going to last)
• he's about a half inch away from being taller than me, his feet are now bigger & if I don't want him to get any taller I shall have to stop feeding him!

And in a few years time there'll be 2 teenagers in the house, if I start tunnelling now I should be able to escape before then!!