<p>In all the concern/discussion about SATs, APs, college apps, etc., I realized that I should be focusing on doing some fun things with son—appreciate the time that he’s here and realize that after he goes away to college (wherever that might be!) it won’t be the same again.</p>
<p>Chagrined to realize that a lot of our interactions revolve around: have you done this/that/why not?</p>
<p>Would really enjoy hearing from parents what fun things they do w/their teen that are mutually enjoyable.</p>
<p>So far I have:</p>
<p>Play Rock Band together
Watch movies
Laugh at silly things on youtube together
Talk politics a bit
Go out for water-ice
Visit colleges (this can be a really fun road trip together)
Listen to books on CD
Listen to son play his musical instrument</p>
<p>I know some families go mountain biking w/their teen boys (although son’s not up for that).</p>
<p>Would love other ideas!</p>
<p>D joined the local Venture Crew (a co-ed extension of Boy Scouts) a year ago and LOVES it! H went along as an adult leader on a weeklong trip last summer with D and the other crew members into the wilderness (I mean REAL backcountry!) and bonded with her there - they are doing it again this summer (after I do the college tour week with her - who gets the better deal??). Needless to say H also got to know many of the young men in the group…most are on the (very) short list of guys allowed to date D…</p>
<p>We play tons of board and card games, like Skip-Bo, and we play driveway sports. We’re gonna play something called soccer volley in a few minutes!</p>
<p>We play family games (S1 just arrived home from college yesterday, and today HS daughter asked if we could play a family game tonight!) Canasta, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly…</p>
<p>We also like amusement parks. My kids are roller-coaster fiends.</p>
<p>The board game idea is great! It’s something we haven’t done in years! Should try it.</p>
<p>The outdoor weekend trips are fun too (Venture Crew sounds great!). Son & hub like canoe/camping trips & we do plan a number of family camping trips this summer!</p>
<p>Somehow, I thought it would be fun to try paintball w/the family…although I could completely be wrong about how I would manage w/all that!!</p>
<p>I agree about visiting colleges. Our entire family enjoyed that. I hadn’t realized it until someone said, “Hey, aren’t we going to Jamba Juice?” , but apparently we developed a tradition of stopping at a Jamba Juice for a smoothie after almost every campus tour.
Opening college mail together also became an activity for me and my D because I had to force her to sit down about once every 10 days and go through piles of it.</p>
<p>Wish I could get son to open the college mail. I put it on his dresser & it stays there. That’s a thought though–maybe we could do it together, and he’d more likely to read it!</p>
<p>A challenge re: our fun, family activities is that I have a 6 year old & 16 year old. Movies we all like (or can watch) and games we all enjoy are harder to find w/the age difference (for some reason son doesn’t like to ‘play stuffed animals’…although he’s generally a really good sport!).</p>
<p>–Out for a meal (doesn’t have to be dinner, fun to go out to breakfast)
–If you’re close enough, spend the day at the beach
–Whiffle ball
–Bowling
–Attempt to play video games with them. If your attempt is anything like mine was, they’ll crack up laughing hysterically at you.
–Go see a ball game (doesn’t have to be a pro team for it to be fun)</p>
<p>Find something they like and you’re terrible at because every kid loves a chance to laugh at their parents. Just make sure you allow yourself to be the butt of the joke. </p>
<p>–Paint their bedrooms and let them pick any weird colors they want. Then take them to buy some cheap accessories like posters, plastic milk crates, etc.
–Just have fun. It really doesn’t matter what the activity is as long as you make it light hearted and fun and let yourself act goofy along with them.</p>
<p>Thanks, nysmile. Good tips. And, definitely w/you on the ‘parent as source of humor for teens.’ My son laughs at my technological attempts (e.g. when I ask him to put his cell phone on “noisy” so he can hear me call…). </p>
<p>Husband did the bedroom re-do. Son really love that. I’d second that as a great thing—validates our respect for ‘their space.’</p>
<p>IKEA is a great place to shop for a bedroom re-do (it’s cheap and has great stuff for young adults).</p>
<p>White water rafting if you’re up for it; tubing if available…</p>
<p>Early in D’s college search, we did informal visits and just had fun walking around campuses and surrounding areas. Maybe there’s an interesting event near a campus; the only way I could get D to look at UVA was to take her to a vegetarian/vegan fair in Charlottesville. Visited a Farmers Market in Lancaster PA and stopped off at Franklin and Marshall and enjoyed the Dog Park. Some schools are near outlet malls…probably more attractive to Ds than Ss. Even if they don’t apply to any of these schools, the trips, and they can be day trips depending on where you live, raise awareness and can be a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Probably jet skiing together. I used to ride with my daughter because she was too young but now I think she is old enough to do it on her own.</p>
<p>Last year I bought my son the complete old (William Shatner) Star Trek series on DVD. We are working our way through that. He thinks it’s a hoot and so do I. We also have the first season of Heroes that we haven’t had time to watch (we saw it first run but want time to look for all the clues.)</p>
<p>One thing that I haven’t done but I think would be a good idea: If your child doesn’t cook much, teach him or her to cook a couple of great things. Either his or her favorite dish, or a couple of super simple things. Every month in her magazine, Rachel Ray features a different 4 ingredient dish…some are pretty good.</p>
<p>Sometimes we play Wii or Rock Band together. It’s a hoot! The kids love to watch me try to play the drums or serve up tennis. :-P</p>
<p>Also, right now, we’re all four training to run the Baltimore Half Marathon in October. Husband and I have done several. It will be 11th grade Son’s first. 9th grade Daughter is the only wild card. We’ll know by early September whether she’s up to 13.1 miles. If not, then we’ll switch from a four people running the Half Marathon simultaneously to a 4-person relay. Training together is great fun and “quality time.”</p>
<p>Great thread!</p>
<p>Jolynne, as you probably remember, we have the same age spread here, 6 and 16. I absolutely second Rock Band - everybody can be part of RB, and goofing up is half the fun. (Okay, well, fun for the kids to watch us goof up.)</p>
<p>Board games can be tricky because of the age spread, but one that we’ve had tremendous fun with is the New Yorker Cartoon Caption board game. S2 is surprisingly good at captions, and since goofiness goes along with cartoons, it is often honestly hard to tell his from anyone else’s. The only rule change we had to institute was making everybody print - since S2 can’t really write in cursive yet. 
But in fact it helps make things harder to guess, since the rest of us don’t typically print, so we’re less familiar w each other’s handwriting.</p>
<p>There are nutty parlor games that work too - the goofier the rules, the better they stick with the little one, and that helps make up for what he might lack in vocabulary or logic or whatever, since other people are dropping out due to forgetting to pat their heads, answer backward, or whatever. Even really ancient chestnuts like Going to Grandma’s (or whatever your family calls it - the endless variations on I’m going to ---------'s, and in my trunk I’m packing [item starting with A] and the next person has to remember A and add B, etc.) can be tons of silly fun if you meddle with the rules a little bit. S2 laid waste to the rest of us when we called it I’m Writing a New Book, and I’m putting in __________ - we stipulated that they all had to be book characters, and he was able to come up with more than anybody else. Charades is great too.</p>
<p>We like to go for family drives with D1 at the wheel. Don’t know why. Kind of aimless but we all enjoy it.</p>
<p>Love these ideas! Thanks a bunch!!</p>
<p>Harriet–charades is a great idea & I bet the 6 & 16 yo would love the NYer cartoon caption game, too! </p>
<p>mammall–lol, drives w/son (just got permit) have yet to turn into ‘fun’ for mom but hopefully they will soon!! I can see where it would be great, once he’s more skilled/experienced!</p>
<p>The jet-ski & whitewater rafting are completely fun (we’ve done both & loved them)…just trying to keep the finances in check a bit for college so looking on the more affordable end…but they would be a nice, special treat to look forward to!</p>
<p>Cooking together is something I’ve had on my list for ages…good to think about doing it. I’ve started to worry that son should have some more ‘life skills’ (like cooking!) now that college is approaching. Great plan to just have a goal of, say, 4 recipes to master (more manageable that way).</p>
<p>We were Rock Band fiends for a while at our house…now son & friends know all the songs so he’s not as into it. The big Rock Band question–should we get XBOX live to access more songs (or will that lead to massive screen time—not good w/all the college stuff upcoming…!). lol</p>
<p>We always have a jigsaw puzzle on the family room coffee table. All kinds of great conversations take place while working on the puzzle.</p>
<p>S#3 and I love sudoku puzzles, so after dinner, he will print out 2 copies of the same one and we will race to the finish.</p>
<p>We all love sports, so many opportunities for bonding while watching or attending games. We love to golf and bowl together.</p>
<p>Rock Band and Wii-yes, yes, yes.</p>
<p>H and the boys all enjoy fishing excursions together.</p>
<p>We’ve been watching MASH nightly with our teen. (We’ve already been through all the Star Treks. 
) Dh takes his lab canoeing/kayking/rafting on the Delaware River every summer. It’s not too pricey. My kids like board games and when both boys are home we try to get some bridge in.</p>
<p>Interesting, my-3-sons. I do the ‘puzzle on the table thing’ w/younger child, but didn’t think about it for older one.</p>
<p>mathmom…bridge?? That’s really something. My (82 yo) dad has been talking about teaching my 16 yo son & I bridge for years (he used to be a huge & skillful player). I didn’t think it was something that son would be into…but, maybe he would! Should give grandpa that chance, he’d love it. :-)</p>