Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

What do you still do 'as a family'?

22 replies

pollycazalet · 23/09/2013 10:42

Hideous phrase, but wondering whether anyone still does things as a family unit now they have one or more teens, or whether your teen opts out.

This weekend I struggled to think of things we could all do - things like cinema, bowling and lunch out are still fine but all the lie cost activities ( eg A Walk) are met with eye rolling.

Looking for ideas!

OP posts:
sweetfluffybunnies · 23/09/2013 13:00

Sadly the only thing we ever do as a family these days, apart from holidays, is watch TV, and even then it's very difficult to find something everyone wants to watch! Meal times are good for getting everyone together for a chat.

secretscwirrels · 23/09/2013 13:15

We always eat evening meal together.
A few tv programmes that we all watch (Under the Dome, Rizzoli & Isles).
Bowling.
Holidays.
Sadly they will no longer go for A Walk, and now that DS1 drives they don't need us along if they go swimming or to the pictures.

monikar · 23/09/2013 13:21

Polly How old are your teens? If you are still getting the cinema and bowling then you are doing well. DD at about 15 stopped wanting to do these activities with us as she preferred to go with friends. She stopped wanting to go on walks at about 13. We always eat together and she is still happy at 17 to come on holiday with us. As others say, we still watch some TV together.

bigTillyMint · 23/09/2013 13:52

Errr, eat dinner together, watch some TV together (never heard of any of those, secret Blush), meal out, holidays. But any one of those can be met with a sneer/bickering at any timeSad
They have never wanted to go on any walks, despite being very sporty!

flipchart · 23/09/2013 13:56

Ds1 is 17 and working
DS2 is 14
We go to the pictures, out for family meals once a week at least, go to home and away games of our sporting team.

We go on holiday together. we snowboard,wake board, hill walk and mountain bike.We often go on weekends away up to Scotland.

DS1 will often have his friends round at our house and they will come and sit with us for an hour in the living room before they go to another part of the house to hang out.

Often I just say me and you dad are going to see ( a gig) do you want to come and sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. This year we went to see Example, The Rizzle Kicks and been to a few local festivals together.

We just do normal stuff.

Original poster
pollycazalet · 23/09/2013 14:09

I've got a 13 year old ds and younger dd Monikar. DS is pretty independent. Replies here make me feel we are doing ok though!

OP posts:
newpup · 23/09/2013 14:13

Eat together
Watch some tv shows
Films
Walk the dog
Shopping
Board games and hot chocolate
WII games
Trips out - Harry Potter studios, Alton Towers, cinema
Stage shows - Les Mis stc and plays, Shakespeare etc
Day trips to London - museums, shops, London Eye
Meals out
Bowling, ice skating

Loads and loads, I have 2 DDs. We still really enjoy family time and balance it with the girls needs to spend time with their friends.

flipchart · 23/09/2013 14:18

A couple of years ago when DS 1 was about 14/15 I would ask him his plans for the weekend and he would say what he was doing on say Saturday. I would say ok, that's fine but keep Sunday free as we wil go out then. Of course it wasn't easy and we would negotiate times we would be back one we would tell him to bring his mates.

Once it became a habit it became easier. Now he is 17 I think we are through the difficult bit.

He is planning his work from leave for next year and saving. He is dividing his holidays between his mates. And us plus a weeks activity that doesn't involve us or his mates!

ashleysilver · 23/09/2013 14:36

We usually have the evening meal all together. Sometimes we watch tv shows or films on tv. Very occasionally dp will insist we turn off the tv and play poker (they come from a long line of card players).
DD usually comes on visits to grandparents or aunts/uncles (which also tend to include poker or another card game).

Things like trips to the cinema, swimming, shopping tend to be done with friends.

secretscwirrels · 23/09/2013 15:14

Oh yes I forgot we also play cards and board games sometimes.

Oh flipchart you sound too young to have teens. The last "gig" DH and I went to was in 1978 Grin.

bigTillyMint · 23/09/2013 15:18

We have never been able to play boardgames at home - the DC and DH are HORRIBLY competitiveSad

chocoluvva · 23/09/2013 15:19

Same here. Cards and monopoly.

Usually have dinner together.

Not much family tv viewing - the occasional film. We held a small family event to fundraise for DS expedition. We occasionally go to a shopping centre together eg for xmas shopping, but we usually split up. Still do family holiday to visit the rellies and have trips to the beach.

We had one day-trip as a family this summer.

chocoluvva · 23/09/2013 15:20

I look longingly at the adverts for discounted crazy golf - but they don't want to come with me Grin

Bonsoir · 23/09/2013 15:23

All five of us (DP 48, me 47, DSS1 18, DSS2 16 and DD nearly 9) - picnics, bicycle rides, swimming, ski-ing, ice-skating, shopping, cinema or a DVD, restaurants. Boys only: tennis, gym.

Travelledtheworld · 23/09/2013 15:31

Visit the Apple store to look at expensive gadgets !

chocoluvva · 23/09/2013 15:32

That's impressive Bonsoir

Bonsoir · 23/09/2013 15:34

Oh yes, I had forgotten the Apple Store! And FNAC. We had a special family new TV reccy outing a couple of weeks ago.

wordfactory · 23/09/2013 15:39

Quite a lot.

We walk the dogs together every weekend. DH and DC cycle if not raining. We eat most weekend meals together. We'll usually watch somehting on telly together at some point. If our team's game is on telly, we'll all watch that and at least twice a season we make a weekend of it and watch a live game (necessitates a hotel stay).

This Saturday we all went to the theatre.

TantrumsAndBalloons · 23/09/2013 15:50

Ds1 and I go to the gym most mornings before school
Dd and I go to Zumba together
We all go as a family to watch ds1 and ds2 play football every Sunday
Ds1 walks the dog with me every night.
Cinema, shopping (if I am paying) we eat together most nights.
Watch tv, play ps3 all together. Card games sometimes.

The rest of the time they are plugged into laptops/devices and have headphones in Grin

They are 14 and 15

secretscwirrels · 23/09/2013 15:53

bigTillyMint DC and DH are also horribly competitive they even keep score when watching university challenge. I don't have a competitive bone in my body so I usually come last in everything. They like really long games as well.

teenagetantrums · 23/09/2013 16:13

mine are 16 and 19. we rarely eat together, except on Sundays, but my DD 16 and I watch tv most nights together, normally stuff she wants to watch but gives us time to talk. DS 19 and I talk in passing but he is normally out/in his room. we all spend time together with other family, for example this weekend we went out to lunch with my dad and everyone had a good time, and kids and I were on train together each way for an hour. they have their own lives now and im happy with that for family occasions we are together my DS will be leaving home soon for uni and that's fine. the older they get the less time we are 'together' but we do make the most of that time.

Bonsoir · 23/09/2013 18:02

We always eat dinner all together (well, DSS1 has left for university now) and have all weekend meals together.

I think we are pretty close as a family - certainly, some of my girlfriends with younger DC think so and hope they manage to stay as close as a family as we are when their DC are teens. We are all very chatty which helps a lot!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page