The whites of his eyes!

Have you ever been so absolutely certain you were right about something that you were unable to see someone else's perspective?  This happens frequently with all of us, but even more with teenagers.  Think about a time you told something to a 13-year-old and witnessed a world record eye-rolling.  As the adult, you know that you are absolutely correct, but the teenager absolutely won't believe you!

Many times, you simply want this kid to hear you when you say, "I have been through this.  I know what I'm talking about.  Just change your mind and believe me."

Most of the time, the teen won't do it.  He not only wants to be correct, he refuses to even entertain the thought of being wrong.  This is where the adult gets to choose frustration or patience.  Which course of action will be taken with this one?

The kid wants to make his own decisions.  He wants to be correct.  He wants to own it.  Sometimes, it is hard to let him own it.  Especially if you know where he is going to end up.  So as he glares at the ceiling through the top of his skull and tells you what he is going to do, what will your response be:

"Are you serious?" {spoken with some level of sarcasm?}

                                                 or

"Let me know how it goes?" {spoken with absolutely NO sarcasm.}