My oldest is 16. He's a pretty cool kid teenager. Sometimes he even wants to hang out with me and since I sit around and waste my time on Social Media all day work for myself as a freelance writer and consultant now, I can just spend the afternoon lounging while he talks teenager to me - and I couldn't love it more if I tried.
He tells me about this website I just absolutely have to check out because they have a really cool horse-head costume on it and that's where I have to order his Christmas present from - but nothing edible, because even though the two-pound chunk of gummi bear looks good it's not good for you - and does he need to write down the www for me? Or maybe just text it to me that's better.
He also tells me about all the things on his wall; like that's the ticket to the first concert he ever went to when he visited his dad in Vegas and they took him to see Big Time Rush and it was actually going to be Cody Simpson because that's who he likes and he was going to open for Big Time Rush but then he got famous himself so he went on his own tour but they already had bought the tickets and it was still pretty awesome. And that thing right below the ticket is the Monster drink logo he made in woodworking class and everyone loved it so much that he had to make five more and he loves the logo but would never drink an energy drink because it's really not good for you.
And "OMG, mom, you know the guy that just moved here from China? Someone in my class asked him today if he's ever eaten dog" and that he said he did and it's just like chicken; and that he's worried that he did something racist because he thought that was funny and I say it's more of a stereotype and the girl who asked was probably just curious and that he's fine. Then I tell him to tell the people in her class, especially the ones who have horses and ride in the rodeos, that he used to eat horse all the time because Germans eat horse-salami.
Then we laugh and talk some more teenager and life is really good.