Activities for teens (stepmom, legal, play, son)

[MaryleeII]

I simply asked for suggestions, nothing indicated I plan to "force" them into any particular activity. what's wrong with having something to do besides sleep all day and "hang" all night?

BTW, manual labor is not unheard of---I do it, too!

All I asked for was some ideas.
[mod cut-- rude, personal]

[txtqueen]

Here's some activities for summer...

Sleep
Swim
Sleep overs
Going out with friends
Video games
Skateboarding
Roller blading
Watching tv
Going to the park
Going to the movies
Going to the mall
Playing a sport
Going over to friends houses
Rearranging rooms
Decorating room
The internet
talking on the phone
Texting


This past summer my brother spent every waking moment at the skatepark and came home if it got too hot or for meals, I worked and layed out at the pool and went out at night with my friends.

Summers suppose to be a time of fun and relaxation and being outside and sleeping in....not sat prep or other stuff that makes you wonder what the hell is summer for if your doing this crap..

[MaryleeII]

Originally Posted by txtqueen

Here's some activities for summer...

Sleep
Swim
Sleep overs
Going out with friends
Video games
Skateboarding
Roller blading
Watching tv
Going to the park
Going to the movies
Going to the mall
Playing a sport
Going over to friends houses
Rearranging rooms
Decorating room
The internet
talking on the phone
Texting


This past summer my brother spent every waking moment at the skatepark and came home if it got too hot or for meals, I worked and layed out at the pool and went out at night with my friends.

Summers suppose to be a time of fun and relaxation and being outside and sleeping in....not sat prep or other stuff that makes you wonder what the hell is summer for if your doing this crap..

Seems I hit a nerve with SAT prep classes---I never intended they would spend 40 hours/week studying for the SAT, but what's wrong with spending some time with it?

I guess I was somehow wrong all those years I signed them up for summer read programs at the local library, too

[imcurious]

There is a difference between relaxation and debauchery. I don't think any parent here advocated the latter.

My posts were focused on wholesome activities and relaxation.

Not sure why you have such a chip on your shoulders.

[lucygirl951]

[mod cut-- deleted quote and response]

Actually, I think that summers should be mostly unstructured for children because they work so hard during the school year and because they're children. They will have their entire adult lives to be constantly watching the clock and having every minute scheduled. As an adult, I have wonderful memories of long summer days of running and swimming and sometimes climbing up into my tree house with a book.

[Mattie]

I really don't see anything wrong with what the OP is asking. I, and most of my friends, all conferred about exactly the same thing when our kids were young teens, as in "what are they going to do all summer?" It's a tough age, because for the most part they are too young to get a job, and still need a ride to do many other activities. If the kids aren't involved in sports it requires some creativity to keep them occupied. Fortunately, my kids spent most summers at sports camps.

One of the smartest things we ever did though was to sign the boys up for the Red Cross lifeguard certification course. Once they passed that, and were 15, they had summer jobs that they have been able to return to every year.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Originally Posted by Mattie

It's a tough age, because for the most part they are too young to get a job, and still need a ride to do many other activities.

I'm going to agree with this.

Honestly, I can't remember what my son did at that age. He probably went to the rec center with friends, etc. He's a home body so I think he ended up hanging out here at home a lot with me. He would have loved to have a job, but he was always too young for most things. He did do volunteering at the Humane Society.

He tried twice to get a job at King Soopers doing bagging, but they only took applications online - wouldn't let him do anything in person or speak to a manager. A friend of ours had a son who was able to get a job near the store they were by, but the hours they had him working were ridiculous for a teen, so he ended up quitting.

My suggestion would be to check with your city's rec center. Our rec center here has tons and tons of teen activities and they are really reasonably priced. They also have jobs for younger teens sometimes here, although hard to get since so many apply.

Don't know if you have a youth corp there - here the jobs are on a lottery system, because so many kids apply. But if you have that there it might be worth checking into.

[Davachka]

Here is what my daughter did last summer when she was 14 and she was quite busy.
We do not force her to do anything, these are all things she WANTED to do:
Several weeks of volleyball camp
Volunteered (meals on wheels, zoo and museum of science and industry all were places that would take her around here)
Flew to NY for 1-2 weeks to spend time with friends/family
Flew to IN for 2 weeks to spend time with friends/family
Family vacation with us
Went to the gym daily with me
Walked a few dogs in the neighborhood
Surfed online
Worked on school summer reading assignments (read 2-3 books and wrote essays)
Hung out at home/pool/beach/with friends and just relaxed since it was summer break!

[StarryEyedSurprise]

[mod cut-- deleted quote and response]
WHAT ARE YOUR KIDS' INTERESTS? NO ONE ON THE INTERNET KNOWS THIS.

My child is not a year old. He has been to swim class, and is starting a mommy-and-me tumbling class in a few weeks. This summer we will spend many days together at the park, at the beach, and swimming in our pool, in addition to a possible class. We will undoubtedly spend some days lounging around the house. It's called BALANCE and letting a kid be a kid. When he is older, my husband and I plan on exposing him to many things, to see what he is interested in. I would think by age 14 he might have an idea on that, and I'd probably want his input!

Edit to add - I notice none of your "ideas" involve spending time with you or your husband. [mod cut, rude]

[Kibbiekat]

gosh people... A certain amount of structure is good. My nephew spent all last summer sitting on the couch playing video games. I think some planned activities would have been good for him. Just don't over do it, and let them help pick the activities.