Parents know by now that teenage is not a number, but certain characteristics your children start exhibiting.It does not matter if they are 13, 3, 8, 38(ahem!) if you see more than one of the below then you have a teenager in the house.

-If your child sticks to you when sad, but does not make eye contact with you when in the company of her peers,

-Allows to hug her only when she is upset,

-Gets mad at you at the drop of a hat for things you said/did not say/implied/thought in your mind but did not dare express verbally,

-Wants attention, but does not ask for it, but is irritated when she does not get it,

-There is no more walking or talking at home. There is only stomping and trudging which may or may not be coupled with door banging and frustrated grunts.

-There is no more shyness or giggling when you point a camera at them, but you sense a silent warning to the person holding the camera,

-Many questions are answered with a careless up and down of the shoulders,

-Plenty of eye rolling.

 

I am not naming any names, but some one at home, other than me, is in this phase now. So while dropping the children at the bus stop, I put on my game face,  stood outside the child’s window, promptly jumped up and down, waving maniacally and calling her name out loudly. When she comes home today, I might show her the climax of Moondram Pirai, where Kamal is trying to get Sridevi’s attention, just so she knows what may or may not follow.