Signs Your Teen is On Summer Break

When the kids were little, it was easy to know when the school year ended and summer break began. There were end-of-year parties, massive amounts of cupcakes to bake and then the inevitable meltdown over being too late to sign up for swim classes. Now with the kids getting older, the start of summer is signaled by a few subtler signs—although there still might be the occasional meltdown or two. Here are the sure-fire signs your teen is home for the next three months.

And you have to replenish the mac n' cheese supply on a daily basis.

There are empty Starbucks cups in every room and every corner of the house.

The laundry pile shrinks to half its size.

The Amazon Prime movie bill swells to twice its size.

Who are we kidding? There is no ice in the ice maker. Ever.

You have a conversation with at least one other mom about the length of girls' shorts.

You swear your kid is talking in her sleep at 2 a.m. but then realize she's on the phone.

The bedroom doors don't open until at least noon. Don't bother trying before then.

At least one stranger gives your teen the unsolicited advice to "get a job."

You think about sunscreen SPF all day long and hope they do too, at least half the time.

You mistake a halter top for a pot holder, and the confusion is completely justifiable.

"Just hanging out" is considered an acceptable description of all activities at anytime.

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You look up"sleeping too much" as a symptom on WebMD.

You give the "I'm Not a Taxi Driver" speech more than the usual two times per week.

You obsess about all water safety stories even though your kid is nowhere near the beach.

At 12:30 a.m. you realize your kid isn't home, but instead of panicking you shrug and go back to watching "House of Cards."

You start to learn all of their friends' names since you seem to be grocery shopping for them, too.

They are forced to listen to the annual telling of your story about being a teen and using Sun-In to lighten your hair and baby oil to get a tan.

You have at least one heart attack when, in the middle of the day, you see the blanket on the couch move by itself and then realize someone is underneath it.

You get a little sad thinking about how, in three months, they won't be around the house all day eating all the mac n' cheese.