He won't participate in anything the family does. The words jarred me at the time, and yet she bluntly described the exact experience I was having with my teenager now. Gradually, as his 14th year approached, my son, Andrew, was no longer enamored with family interaction. In fact, he adamantly opposed any such family fun.
Most teenagers do.
Now, I found myself contemplating the rationalization behind this teen revolt, and wondering if there might be something I could do to cure it. My husband took Andrew's dissention in stride, while I found something inherently unsettling about it. Granted, I can understand it's no longer cool to be seen traipsing through the mall with Mom, Dad and little Sis. However, I didn't regard it as the ultimate fatality that Andrew did. My color schemes were usually flattering.