How to dress a teenager

When I became a mum a decade and a half ago, I could barely wait for the day when my son would be able to feed and bathe himself and I could spend a full day at the office.

- NAMRATA ZAKARIA

No one told me then what a fool I was. Teenagers can barely feed or bathe themselves. They will never eat freshly-cooked home food, it is almost as if they cannot swallow anything if it doesn’t come out of a Zomato paper bag. But the real angst of being mum to a teen is shopping with them.

The test of a parent’s patience is watching their kids get dressed or shop for clothes. Their choices defy every sense of logic, aesthetic, form, function and comprehension. Sometimes I think I would be better prepared if I had a daughter. She would simply dress the way I did—rebellious and attention-seeking. Most teenage girls follow one dress code: itsy this and bitsy that. But I thought dressing boys would be a walk on the beach. Sports clothes, bulky sneakers, and a hoodie over everything (damn you, Kanye). It is all of the above, but mixed with a bottle of anxiety and a bucket of adventure.