Zits in Real Life

Probably three or four mornings a week my dad will send me a copy of a comic strip called Zits.  It follows a family with a teenage boy, and it is funny.  It is also Painful.  Teenage years can be so awkward.  Teens are emotional and can be so wrapped up in friends.   Living with them sure makes everyday an adventure. 

Honestly when I get that early morning text from my dad, my stomach reflexively starts to churn.  We are LIVING Zits over here in the Gwilliam household.

Here are a few of Zits cartoons.

So many things I do seems to embarrass/annoy my teens.  Haha.  I'm still going to work at making those connections.  (And my kids' friends are awesome...and I feel like Brian and I have pretty good relationships with both our kids and their friends.)  Also, teens in 2021 often come with phones glued to their hands, piercings and tattoos.

Tanner flips out occasionally when asked to turn off the game/put down the phone/pause the show and do his chores.  "Why do you always try to get everyone to do YOUR JOB MOM.  You are the MOM.  You just want to make us your slaves."  And that's when I walk away and whisper to myself, "A soft answer turneth away wrath. A soft answer..."

And the poor kids have to live with this ALL of the time!  They tease me about my many pairs of glasses that I can never find, and they often have to call my phone because I can't find it…and I do try to stay on top of the money transactions. 

And just when I'm ready to throw in the towel, something like this occurs.

Here are two real life Zits examples from the Gwilliam household this week.

Text from Tanner at 5:00pm 

Tanner: Went to eat

Me: I'm making dinner 😬

Tanner: You make dinner every night

Me: And I would like you home to eat it every night

Tanner: Well I hate eating as a family and I'm not going to eat dinner every night  It's the worst event of the day

Me: 😢

And also at dinner...it's been a rough dinner week apparently.  I think Brian was teasing Aubrey or maybe talking to her about being more confident in volleyball...and she was done.  

May we all survive and thrive in the Gwilliam household these next four years!!