So just found out that one of my teens was hiding a tattoo gotten illegally at age 14. Explaining why said teen didn’t swim on family outings for ever so many years.
Anyone else have new discoveries that sent them to a therapist or some form of self-medication?
If she got it a parlor that was willing to do one illegal thing, that parlor was also likely cutting corners elsewhere. Hope she is Hep B immunized.
Thank you so much for that comfortable thought. I appreciate it. Hope your kids are doing just as well!
That is a tough one. A lot of people say that the teen years are so parents won’t be sad to see them leave the house.
Sorry for being blunt. It is painful when your kids hide stuff from you, but what can you do now? The only thing I would do is to “punish” the kid by making sure the kid gets tested for every H_V that could get transmitted via contact with contaminated ink and needles. Virtual hugs.
I do appreciate the thought actually. It was a shocker though to think of it. We will get child HIV tested etc
My dad thought it would be a good idea for us to tell what stuff we did as teenagers that the ‘rents’ (him) didn’t know about. He figured we could “fess up” after 40 years and just have a good laugh. Yes. 40 years.
Uh. No. Not happening. And I’ll have to say we were REALLY good kids.
There are just some things parents don’t need to know.
Maybe I’ll reconsider soon…it was pretty hilarious in the end and everyone but my parents know the story.
By the way–tattoos are the least of a teen problem!
Sometimes kids just do stupid things and hopefully there aren’t lasting effects.
Seriously, it’s tough to be “the couch” when kids need to talk without giving the “parent” view.
Listen first. Advise later. Remember “what’s done is done” and then move on.
In my state, minors need their parent’s or guardian’s permission to get tattoos and piercings. D1 wanted a tattoo, and D2 wanted “extra” (beyond one or two in her ear) piercings. I didn’t think either was a good idea, told them that, and said I wouldn’t give them permission but wouldn’t attempt to stop them from proceeding once they turned 18. I told them I’d feel responsible if they weren’t happy with the results, and I didn’t want to put myself in that position. It was a lot easier to offer sympathy and advice when they had physical discomfort after their procedures given that I hadn’t been the one to sign off on them. And in the scheme of things, neither the tattoo nor the piercing (nose, done in Vietnam!) was a big deal.
No tattoos in this household, but unfortunately I can still remember the ridiculous things I did as a teenager and hope my kids avoid. Although, I would wonder what was wrong with them if they never pushed boundaries and participated in shenanigans. I have a 23yo S btw, still living at home and we have forbade him getting a tattoo. I don’t like them or their permanence. He has wanted one since HS. We have never told S that he would have to leave his cushy abode or we would cut him out of the will, but he is an obedient S and is still without one; 
We are grateful both our kids tend toward needle phobic and have said they think tattoos are ugly. D did ask and with my blessing get her ears pierced (one hole per line) as JR in HS. Neither of us have regrets.
Didn’t tell my folks I had mono in college, literally crawled to student health center where we collapsed and spent the nite, got incompletes because would only be released to pack and fly out of town for winter break (to snowy MI to visit my sis who was in grad school). Only told them and sis many years later. We fortunately didn’t give anyone mono.
I saw a meme that read “Thank you mom and dad for not strangling me when I was a teenager”.
This is semi-related, but on a very long recent Facebook posting by a friend, I found out that my older brother (who is now 49) went to see the Police in concert on a school night in 1983 after telling our parents that he was going to school to lay out the school newspaper. Call me naive (I’m 47), but I was shocked for a few minutes, and then really jealous. It honestly never occurred to me that I could sneak out like that! Guess I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.
FWIW, the friend posted a picture of the concert ticket stub. She had a 5th row seat and the ticket price was $14. Wowser.
My kids are 15 and 18 and I have no idea what they may be hiding from me. This post makes me wonder …
My S did this and for months I believed him when he said it was a temporary one that he had reapplied X_X .
I’d suggest a “been there done that 20 to 40 years ago but can’t admit it”
but I’m really afraid none of us would admit it.
When I was in your shoes, I was wondering what D had already hidden from me, and what she would hide during the college years. I did once find a Plan B packet in her drawer after she returned to college from summer break, and I’m sure there were tons more transgressions. She may even have a well-hidden tattoo for all I know. But she’s never been arrested, never had an unplanned baby, never wound up in ER, and graduated from college with honors. She’s now 25, self-supporting, in a stable long-term relationship with a guy we adore, and is loving her life. I’m gonna call that a win, no matter how many Plan Bs there were along the way.
@LasMa She had the sense and wherewithal to know what Plan B is, procure it, and to use it if needed. That sounds like success to me!
Since when is getting treated in an emergency room a transgression? And why?
It’s more doing the stupid crap that makes you wind up in an ER that is the problem.
I assume they mean for alcohol poisoning or a drug overdose?