Is this normal for a 15 year old??

[karinothing]

When I was 15 I wanted to ride the rails and follow punk bands around the country. I didn't figure out what I wanted until one year past HS. It worked out okay.

[heyrebekah]

Totally normal.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 14:51:44 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Ideally, a 15 year old would start planning for college and beyond. But realistically, they don't have a clue yet. I think she is pretty normal. It is weird to me that she doesn't know HOW she wants to be famous, but maybe she is just witholding that information from you. Maybe she is embarrassed to say porn star or something (who knows. lol).

Haha, that is funny! I may never look at her the same again

I guess I could go along with it if she loved to sing and had a good voice and wanted to be a singer. But it is weird to me that she doesn't have any idea of how she will be famous, therefore nothing she can work towards.

At least I know she is normal. I was thinking she was behind/unmotivated....

Thanks everyone!

[wanderlustfoodie]

I have no kids so who knows if it's typical or normal but it wouldn't have been my answer at 15 and I wouldn't like if it were my kid's answer (but if I ever choose to breed I'm sure I'll be a huge tiger mom).

Like others have said, most 15 year olds don't end up doing whatever it is they think they'll do at 15 but it's weird to me she doesn't have any ideas about what she wants to do or how she intends to get famous. Being famous isn't a profession, it's the result/effect of something else - what is that something else? She sounds to me like she lacks ambition/drive/motivation but I don't know her.

Also, I kind of side eye the wanting to be famous - does she not see how troubled most famous people are? Even at 15 I knew I didn't want to be "famous" but I probably wasn't representative of the larger teen population.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 17:16:21 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Omg. Knock it off with the "what are you planning on doing with your life?!" stuff.

1. She's 15
2. You're not her mom

Best.

Obviously.

[Awkward]

Dec 7, 2012 17:22:29 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

I think it's the new normal, sadly. These dumb ass kids today are so busy following celebs who make it rain on Twitter, watching reality tv stars become famous for nothing and getting 200 likes on an Instagram photo that they all think they're the next big thing waiting to happen.

My son is 16 and he doesn't know what he wants to do. He does, however, know that undergrad and grad school are mandatory, so he works hard in school to give himself as many options in possible and because anything else = a meeting between my foot and his behind. I KNOW that secretly he is hoping that he will end up being a pro skateboarder or famous producer. I get very frustrated that he doesn't know what he wants to do (more realistically speaking). At 16, all my friends and I knew what we planned to study once we got to college. My husband didn't so for that reason, he's less concerned. The one thing he tells me that makes me feel better is that if he works this hard through college, it's likely he will figure it out. I hope he's right.

I would not be concerned that she doesn't know what she wants to do and/or she just wants to be famous. I would be concerned if her grades could prove to be a limitation in terms of her being accepted to a decent school. It's unfortunate that the decisions we make when we have the least amount of wisdom can really determine our entire future.

Grad school is mandatory? ^o)

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 17:24:18 GMT -5 Awkward said:

Dec 7, 2012 17:22:29 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

I think it's the new normal, sadly. These dumb ass kids today are so busy following celebs who make it rain on Twitter, watching reality tv stars become famous for nothing and getting 200 likes on an Instagram photo that they all think they're the next big thing waiting to happen.

My son is 16 and he doesn't know what he wants to do. He does, however, know that undergrad and grad school are mandatory, so he works hard in school to give himself as many options in possible and because anything else = a meeting between my foot and his behind. I KNOW that secretly he is hoping that he will end up being a pro skateboarder or famous producer. I get very frustrated that he doesn't know what he wants to do (more realistically speaking). At 16, all my friends and I knew what we planned to study once we got to college. My husband didn't so for that reason, he's less concerned. The one thing he tells me that makes me feel better is that if he works this hard through college, it's likely he will figure it out. I hope he's right.

I would not be concerned that she doesn't know what she wants to do and/or she just wants to be famous. I would be concerned if her grades could prove to be a limitation in terms of her being accepted to a decent school. It's unfortunate that the decisions we make when we have the least amount of wisdom can really determine our entire future.

Grad school is mandatory?

This and who's to say he can't become a music producer? Get him starting on producing music now, making connections now and he very well could be the next Scott Starch or something.

[KaraOrNot]

This sounds totally normal.

[Awkward]

Dec 7, 2012 17:29:14 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

Dec 7, 2012 17:26:20 GMT -5 blissanity said:

This and who's to say he can't become a music producer? Get him starting on producing music now, making connections now and he very well could be the next Scott Starch or something.

Do you know have any idea what Scott Storch is doing right now? I'm guessing not, since you don't know his name. I'm going to take a pass on having my son being the next Scott Storch, but hey, you and Awkward are free to raise your children however you like.

Simmer down. I've just never heard of anyone demanding their child go to grad school when they're not even 100% sure what they want to do. That's cool, and as long as you're paying even cooler.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 17:29:14 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

Dec 7, 2012 17:26:20 GMT -5 blissanity said:

This and who's to say he can't become a music producer? Get him starting on producing music now, making connections now and he very well could be the next Scott Starch or something.

Do you know have any idea what Scott Storch is doing right now? I'm guessing not, since you don't know his name. I'm going to take a pass on having my son being the next Scott Storch, but hey, you and Awkward are free to raise your children however you like.

It doesn't matter what he's doing now. He once did great things and he was the first producer who came to mind. I'm sure we could find much better examples; Paul Epworth, George Clinton, Daniel Lanois, Quincy Jones, Dr. Dre. Point is, a music producer is a perfectly fine career. You make it sound like it isn't.

If I ever raise a child, I'll raise them to be whatever the way want to be. Even if that's a unicorn trainer.

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 17:16:21 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Omg. Knock it off with the "what are you planning on doing with your life?!" stuff.

1. She's 15
2. You're not her mom

Just to be clear this isn't something we talk about every time I see her. And even when it does come up its not me interrogating her trying to figure out what her life plans are.

I am also the only person in her direct family who graduated from college, so I feel like it wouldn't hurt to help encourage her to go that route. And her mom is always around during these conversations and isn't bothered one bit....

I started this thread because my husband thinks this is normal for a 15 year old, I didn't think so. I guess he is right, once again

[Deleted]

Dec 7, 2012 17:05:09 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

Like others have said, most 15 year olds don't end up doing whatever it is they think they'll do at 15 but it's weird to me she doesn't have any ideas about what she wants to do or how she intends to get famous. Being famous isn't a profession, it's the result/effect of something else - what is that something else?

Exactly what I think!

[chessie]

At 15 I was more concerned how I was going to afford a car, pay for all of that with a part time job, college not so much. I was in a technical school in high school, engineering related, but really, college felt light years away since I had no idea how I would pay for it. I knew community college me there if I needed it since it was cheapest option.

There are a lot of options out there and for many it does not include college- tech/vocation- so many great fields out there that people are not going into that make great money, college does not mean you automatically make fantastic money. This is complete normal behavior for a 15 year old. At 18 its their decision anyway not their parents. I am glad my parents were welcoming and supportive with whatever I chose to do with my life, because at the end of the day, it was my decision, not them.

[readyin07]

I am glad I am not some of your kids lol!

At 15, I was sure I was going to go to college, but that is about as far as it goes. I may have said oh, I want to be in publishing or work for Vogue or be a psychologist. But if another adult asked me that I would have been and probably not have answered b/c it would have made me self-conscious :/

I was salutatorian of my class, an active volunteer, etc. I was hardly unmotivated but I was...young.

That being said, I never really found what I wanted to do as a profession so maybe that was wrong.

[bunch]

I'm shocked that this is normal. I wouldn't care if my kid didn't know what she wanted to do, but "famous" is beyond obnoxious.

[carfar]

Normal not to know what you want to do. Not normal (at least in my HS circle) to not be thinking about college.


I probably would've said famous ( or rather singer or actress) back then, too except I was in all performing arts opportunities I could get myself into.