Does anyone else struggle to find something (activity wise) in common with one if their dc?

[JamForTea]

My ds is 6.5 and is sport mad - all he wants to do is play football/tennis etc or play sport type games on the tablet!! He doesn't enjoy anything creative or to read which I'm quite sad about (not that I let him know). I am useless at sport, can't play tennis to save my life. My dh on the other hand is similar to ds and will take him out and play tennis with him. I admit I'm a bit jealous of this aspect of their relationship. Ds does seem to come to me more for cuddles/emotional support but I guess as he gets older the cuddles may stop . I'm (prematurely, no doubt) worrying about him as a teenager/adult and having nothing in common with him. Am I being ridiculous?

[QTPie]

Have you tried:

• cooking
  
• going for long walks
  
• swimming
  
• doing jigsaws.
  

Maybe just taking him out for a treat (ice cream at the park, juice and cookie at a cafe )?

I know what you mean to an extent. Fortunately I currently have common interests with DS (4.5) - swimming, reading at bedtime anyway, walking/exploring, puzzles and Lego - but he is increasing a "boys boy" (lots of guns/shooting etcetc) and I do struggle to identify with that :(

[JamForTea]

Thanks QT. I can't swim either (and even if I could I wear hearing aids and contact lenses so would be deaf/blind in pool!). To complicate matters I also have a 9.5 yo dd who is opposite to him (more like me I suppose) so finding things to do that we all enjoy is hard. Dd enjoys walks in the country (as do dh and I) but ds not so much although he tolerates it. There is a bit of a me and dd, dh and ds split in terms of things we enjoy doing with the kids. Ds is also incredibly competitive which I find hard and it causes ructions at times. I just don't want to end up being a mother who has little in common with their son.

[JamForTea]

Meant to add ds is very much a boyish boy too, which is not a bad thing of course but makes is trickier to keep him entertained without dh being involved.

[Sootgremlin]

What about other outdoorsy stuff like camping? Or does he like movies, you could make cinema a thing for the two of you? Is there no computer game you could both get into?

The other thing I thought was to fake it till you make it! Why not buy tickets for something sporty he'd love and take him yourself? If he's not too young, something like the ATP indoor tennis championships etc, or a local football match.

I reckon it would mean a lot more to him looking back that you did that stuff with him despite it not being your thing.

I only have a 3 year old so maybe it's different it changes as they get older, but it doesn't have to. I'm looking forward to taking him to a monster truck show, and it sure as heck isn't for me!

[Goldengirl1979]

Try and do things they like, I was always taken along to my mum and dad's activities yet there was never any money for anything I wanted to do for myself, funnily enough bitter, not bitter

Some stuff I did with my dad included motor racing & cricket, and my mum it was horse riding and books/art/classical music festivals.