You don't have to cook pancakes for him unless you want to. In my opinion, no child should be allowed to get away with making his parent feel like a horrible person. When my kids try that on my, I very calmly and politely tell them that they are not permitted to speak to me that way and it will never result in getting what they want. Then I make sure that I do not give in to whatever demand was presented in such a rude manner.

My kids are 13 (a girl) and 17 (a boy). They like pancakes on the weekend and they make the pancakes themselves. My 13 year old has known how to make pancakes since she was 11. I can't remember when my 17 year old learned how to make them, but it was quite a while ago. They are also both very competent at making pasta and other high carb treats. I keep tortellinis (my daughter's favorite) and boxed macaroni and cheese in the house, but I don't cook them. These high carb foods really aren't very expensive -- in fact they are usually cheaper than the low carb foods I eat.

I cook what I eat, although I do throw in some side dishes for the kids. If I am making fish or meat and a vegetable for dinner, I will throw some baked potatoes in the oven for the kids. However, I will NOT make them a special dinner. If they absolutely won't eat what I am serving, they know they can make themselves something else.

As you can tell from the above, I do keep high carb foods in the house. They don't tempt me now that I am past the early stages of low carbing. I think the other members of my household have a right to these foods, even if I don't want them. However, that right does not extend to asking me to prepare them.

You also asked about how to get your 14-year-old to eat low carb. I can tell you from experience that 14-year-old boys are rebellious. If you let him know how much you want him to do it, he will not do it! Lead by example. Eat low carb yourself and let him see how much weight you lose. Don't preach to him. If he genuinely wants to lose weight, he may follow your example, especially because you will have lots of readily available lowcarb foods in the house. If he doesn't want to do it, all you are doing is asking for trouble if you try to force him. When he is ready, he will lose weight for his own reasons. You cannot make him do so.

If I were you, I would never again bring up the topic of weight loss with your son. He has made it clear that he does not want to talk to you about it. If he changes his mind, he'll let you know. You can discuss nutrition and healthy eating, but do it in terms of what is necessary for a growing kid (protein, iron, etc.), not in terms of what is necessary to lose weight.

Good luck! Sharing a house with adolescents is one of the more challenging things I have done in my life.