Having a teenage son can be hard, especially if he's being lazy. When this mom is fed up with her son's hygiene, she asks the popular Reddit forum:
I (42M) have 2 children, Arnold (15M) and Maeve (10F). I've been trimming my sons toenails since he was 2 as his nails have always been more thick and longer than usual, if I wasn't to trim them it'd affect his mobility and would be pretty uncomfortable to walk with.
Even when they've been trimmed they still have a pretty distinctive smell (and it isn't pleasant). We've been to doctors over it but they just believe it to be down to hygiene, which wouldn't surprise me as Arnold's never really cared for it.
Now, Arnold is pretty self-conscious of himself, mainly due to him being ginger and his toenails so he struggles to get the motivation to care for them. I do sympathise, but yesterday I snapped.
Arnold had stayed off of school for a GP appointment (we'd been waiting 3 months for it) for his toe, the doctor asked what he'd been doing to care for it and he took all the credit for keeping it well when he's done nothing for himself, it's either his mum or me.
I was pretty annoyed but thankfully, they proceeded to ask questions only I'd know. (etc. Do you apply oils to the nail? What type of oils? How many times a day do you trim it?) He went red and was umming and erring but still didn't back down about lying to them.
Well, once they left I yelled at him. I was so annoyed, not only because he took credit for something I've done for him his whole 15 years on this earth but also because he mucked up the questions and made it seem like nothing was wrong with his nails we were given nothing, we waited 3 long months for my son to muck it all up and now I have to re-schedule a new appointment.
I lashed out and told him he should man up and start caring for himself, I told him I'd no longer be caring for his nails and that it's his responsibility now, which honestly, it should've been a while ago.
My son called me an asshole for it and hasn't spoken to me since, my wife believes I did the right thing but I think I may of stepped a line with my son. So, with this being said, AITA?
YTA. You raised him this way. This conversation should have been had years ago. It’s weird that you’re so fixated on him taking credit for cutting his nails. Why didn’t you answer the doctor’s questions? You preferred to scream at your son after rather than fix this health issue.
NTA. He is more than old enough to be trimming his own toenails and taking proper care of his feet.
Teenagers often have some really bad foot odor due to poor hygiene, mixed with rampant hormones and a bit of laziness (like not bothering to bring their gym socks home to be washed). Teach him how to care for his feet, then tell him it is his responsibility to do it.
YTA. You are the parent. You should have been working with your son to do his own hygiene care. Instead you blew up at him. You were in the doctors appointment and you are the parent.
You should have spoken up so you are the one who mucked up the appointment. He's a teenager, if you expect him to start doing something, you need to set clear expectations and work with him, not assume he can read your mind about what he should be doing on his own.
Apologize to your son and work on a plan with him for him to do his own hygiene routine.