They blew past their curfew—again. They woke up grouchy—again. They ignored you and walked away—in the middle of a conversation. They are convinced the world revolves around them. They think they know better about everything. They walk around slamming doors. They eat everything.

Teenagers, right?

That this is unpleasant is understandable. That it surprises you? Not so much.

For her translation of The Odyssey (an edition we carry in The Painted Porch and love), Emily Wilson explains how she translated the descriptions of the hero’s teenage son, Telemachus:

“I have tried to make sure that a reader can feel inside the characters in the poem, to convey the ways that each character in the poem has her or his own distinctive point of view—the immaturity and vulnerability of Telemachus, for example, when he tries to speak out against the suitors, but ends up bursting into tears: ‘He stopped, frustrated, flung the scepter down / and burst out crying.’”

Some of the other words she translated for “immature” Telemachus across the epic poem: Moodily. Brooding. Sullen.

Sound familiar? That’s every teenager ever. That was you. That is (or is going to be) your kid. That was every kid in ancient Greece, too.

As we’ve said here many times, kids are kids. Always have been and always will be. Teenagers will do teenage things and have teenage attitudes. That’s how it goes. It shouldn’t surprise us. It shouldn’t be taken personally…only prepared for. If anything, it should be appreciated…because it’s a tradition—apparently an ancient one—for them to be this way.