18 Things You Should Probably Know Before You End Up With An Almost-Teenage Son

Do you have an almost-teenage boy on your hands?

1. They’ll flirt (or at least try to) and they’ll do it very, very badly.

2. You’ll have to beg them to wash their face. And by beg, I mean bribe.

3. Bigger kids = bigger problems.

4. Answers to the really important questions can no longer be found by index in parenting books.

5. They take up a lot of physical space and your house will feel very small.

6. You’ll need to hide food or risk going hungry.

7. They’ll need you and sometimes resent you for it.

8. They’re good for labor and brute strength.

9. You’ll find yourself counting the remaining summers and holidays you have left with your son at home and it’ll hurt your heart.

10. They can easily pass for an adult over the phone.

11. They won’t tell you when they’re hurting and it’ll both hurt and scare you.

12. Sometimes a hug is your only hope.

13. You can’t fix everything anymore.

14. You’ll remember — like, really remember — what it was like to be their age and you’ll feel sorry for them until you realize how lucky they are to have such cool parents.

15. You’ll enjoy revisiting teen movie classics with them more than you ever dreamed of.

16. You’ll feel a strange need to make up for every last parenting mistake ever made before they’re grown and gone.

17. They won’t need you when you think they will and will need you when you think they probably shouldn’t.

18. You should probably knock before entering their room.

You can read the rest of this list on Babble. When you're finished, leave a comment and share what no one told you going into having a teenage son.