Teenagers getting bored
I have 2 teens, 16 and 15.....when we go camping all they do is lay around because they have no internet for their games or youtube videos. Any good ideas for something I can do or bring to occupy the...
Forum Discussion
Seattle Steve wrote:
Perhaps you're looking at it the wrong way. They obviously don't look forward to camping. Rather than forcing them to do something you enjoy, why not ask them what they want to do? You'll only have them in the house for a few more years. Make the most of it.
Plenty of time for you to camp after they move on with their lives.
I totally agree~! This is not a fight. If they aren't enjoying camping you need to understand why. Do you need to bring a couple friends? Would that re-engage them? Do you need to do destination camping, where there is a lot of stuff to do? Do you just need to set it aside for awhile and do something else?
We went through this with our two oldest. The DS28 fell out of love with camping around age 16 and nothing we did could make him love it again. So we started leaving him at home. He never broke our trust, BTW. DD loved camping but missed her friends. So we started inviting her friends, most of whom we had to teach how to camp. DD22 went on to get her own equipment and she & the friends are still camping together.
One of the things we learned along the way is that the high school years are very short. Do whatever you can to stay connected, even if that means limited camping. Once we gave ourselves permission to do something else, our kids really responded. This summer we're not getting much camping in. But we're going to fly up to DC for a family reunion and our kids actually *want* to join us! How great is that?!
