Do You Have a Teensplainer? These Mums Share the Things Their Know-It-All Teens Hilariously Tried to Educate Them On

We’ve all heard of ‘mansplaining’, the infuriating situation where some men like to patronisingly explain to women how various things work, despite us having fully-functioning brains and a solid understanding anyway. Seriously, owning a vagina doesn’t mean we are stupid, my dudes.

Well, now we have a new term. One that many parents of teenagers will relate to.

Teensplaining
Verb
When a teen condescendingly assumes that they know more about a topic than the adults around them, usually their parents. The teen then explains the topic to the adult as if the adult is completely ignorant regardless of their experience or expertise. This is frequently accompanied by the extreme certainty that can only be maintained through inexperience.
Example:
“My daughter teensplained pop music to me, as if I hadn’t lived through the 80s.”

Mumsnet boardies have rallied together to share their experiences of being teensplained to by their know-it-all teens. Their stories of being teensplained to are excellent examples of this all-too-relatable phenomenon that parents have been putting up with for generations.

? My teenager tried to explain to me who Boy George is last night in a completely patronising “you’ll have never heard of him” kind of way.

? My 12-year-old announced in the New Year that she hadn’t heard us shouting her for tea as she’d been Netflix binging on this show called ‘Friends’. Announced in a tone of voice implying we’d never have heard of it or ever understand why it was so addictive to watch…

? My teens like to explain in depth how the internet and social media work, using the eye-rolling, patronising voice. I like to remind them that I was using the internet before they were born and social media while they were both in nappies, but it’s fine as I still, apparently, know nothing.

I also like to point out that it was me who taught them to use forks and read, but it goes in one teen ear and out the other.

? Teenagers always think their parents know nothing and are usually amazed at how much they’ve learned by the time said teenager is 20.

? I remember avidly explaining to my mum when I was 16 in 2005 who David Bowie was, why he was amazing and cool (because obviously, she was a mum so wouldn’t get it).

Mum reminded me that she’d been 16 in 1976 and, actually, it was her who’d introduced me to his music. I remember being suitably undeterred.

? My 12yo daughter teensplained to me what a “meme” is. Apparently, they were literally invented last year (alongside gifs, emojis and text speak).

? My nephew was asking who George Michael was (when he tragically died the Xmas before last) because he, at 14, had never heard of him so he couldn’t really be that famous.

? DD burst into the car after a hip-hop class telling me about this cool song they were dancing to. It was called Say You’ll Be There, by a band I’d probably never heard of, called The Spice Ladies.

Have you been teensplained to yet? What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever had explained to you?

Source: Mumsnet and Giphy