My Growing Teenager – Becoming a Man

It has been 14 years now since I found out I was pregnant with Ben. It doesn’t feel that long ago at all and I still feel like the 24-year old I was at the time now I am fast approaching 40!

Ben has gone from a 9lb 1oz baby to a 13-year-old 5ft 8″ boy in what feels like a blink of an eye. Here I thought I would share with you some must-have buys I have found for a teenager who is quickly becoming a man! Bringing up boys is not as easy as I thought, whilst you don’t have to worry about them coming home pregnant you do have to discuss shaving, wet dreams and so much more!

School uniform for growing teenagers

As you can see in the photo above (forgive the grass needing cutting!), Ben is the size and shape of a man now really so buying a school uniform is a little harder. Most shops do school clothes up to age 16 or so, they are not big enough for Ben he is too tall or they are just the wrong shape.

When Trutex offered to send me some of their school uniform to try out I was surprised to see the huge range of sizes and styles on their website. Much better prices than I imagined too. With polo shirts ranging in size from a tiny 1-2 years (£5.99 each) to a massive 3xl (£8.39 each) we should be covered until Ben leaves school with no problem.

The fit on them is great and the quality I feel is better than supermarket ones I had previously bought (when he wasn’t as blooming tall!). The fleece jacket is from Trutex too, a bargain for this Spring British weather where we have Thunder and Lightning followed by bright sunshine!

Trousers of course is another issue. The black men’s trousers I had resorted to buying were not quite right in size and of course not made for football at break times! I was pleased to discover that many of the Trutex trousers include an internal adjuster so you can get the perfect waist size.

There are various styles and prices from £9.99 to £26.99. Ben has tried a mixture of them and the quality of all is amazing and they should definitely stand up a bit better than his previous ones to running around the football pitch at break time!

Books about puberty

Whilst they have lessons at school about their developing body and as parents, of course, everyone talks to their child at home it is not always enough. We bought Ben a book to help if he ever wants to read about anything he is not sure of.

I think now he knows all he needs to and uses it less but around a year or so ago it was great for him to look through. We also found it helped him to ask questions as he could question what the book meant by something making it a little less embarrassing.

It is called Guy Talk (growing up) by Lizzie Cox. Available from Amazon for £9.99 or cheaper from one of the sellers on Amazon! It covers everything from wet dreams to relationships in a chatty friendly but informative manner.

Thinking about shaving

Ben, fortunately, isn’t quite ready for shaving yet but we have an electric razor for him already. I think this will be much easier for him to master and less risky of hurting himself in the process. Perfect in my mind for a teen. This Braun one is around £80 but there are cheaper Braun ones available if you prefer just to have a look around.

I decided to go with Braun as I know they are a reputable make and have never heard anything bad about them. It seems only sensible to ensure I am happy with what Ben is using on his face. Let’s just hope he doesn’t need it for a while yet!

The teenage bedroom

As you saw in a recent post of mine making Ben’s bedroom a bit more of a teenage gamer bedroom wasn’t too hard. I have since discovered lots of amazing bedding perfect for a teenager like these Call of Duty bedding sets! A great way to make them feel like you understand they are growing up and want to feel more mature without breaking the bank!

What have you bought your growing teenagers? I would love more ideas to help Ben to have everything he needs to keep growing into the amazing handsome young man he is becoming.

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