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Teenagers

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

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Original poster

I need your ideas!!

20 replies

Faithope · 04/02/2015 09:56

DS1 is coming up to his 17th birthday and just recently got diagnosed with Epilepsy. So the idea of us buying his first lot of driving lessons are out of the window as he has been told no driving or cycling for 12 months for him.

He also loves Cadets and is in the Rifles-again, due to his health, he now can't shoot a gun (much to mums delight but DS1 is gutted).

Everything he loves has been taken from underneath him in a very quick way.

He loves the outdoors. What can I do to help him find something outdoorsy that he can do??

Any ideas will be very much appreciated :)

OP posts:

indecisiveithink · 04/02/2015 09:59

Indoor (or outdoor!) skydiving for him and some friends? www.airkix.com/

Or Go Ape? goape.co.uk/

Sphering, sailing, canoeing, go karting? Not sure out of those which will be ok?

Original poster

Faithope · 04/02/2015 10:21

Brilliant, sailing and canoeing are off the menu as hes not a swimmer (well he can but is not strong at it) but the others I am looking in to. Thanks :)

OP posts:

Theas18 · 04/02/2015 12:15

My DS had a falconry day for one birthday. He loved it. Can't see why epilepsy would be an issue there

dragonfly007 · 04/02/2015 12:25

Climbing ?

crispsarenotoneofyour5aday · 04/02/2015 12:40

My sister is epileptic and now her drug regime has been sorted out she does just about anything - including martial arts so hopefully your son's set back will be just the first year too (she drives now as well).

In the meantime archery, riding, geocaching, golf (not my bag but a friend's teenager son loves it)or a survival course. If he doesn't already ski and you have an snow dome nearby that could be an option?

Leeds2 · 04/02/2015 17:26

The airkix experience is great (we went to the one at Milton Keynes), but it doesn't last very long!

Segway ride. I don't know if epilepsy would rule that out.

Tickets to see his favourite band, or football team.

myotherusernameisbetter · 04/02/2015 20:44

A really good camera and a lesson in nature photography?

A guided hill walk/survival training thing (so that he has support available in case of emergencies)

Fishing lessons?

Original poster

Faithope · 05/02/2015 08:35

Ah thanks!! Some great ideas-I will look into them today :) He was keen on photography at one point so will see if he wants to pursue that again. We live close enough to Milton Keynes so the dome there is a great idea :)

OP posts:

Northernsoul58 · 05/02/2015 10:45

How about a good quality survival knife - not the Bear Grylls ones which are not very good quality, but a German/French one. Not popular with Mums, but boys love them.

Original poster

Faithope · 05/02/2015 10:54

O he already ordered a Swiss Army Knife-even though it's against the law! He got it from a website. I have it now as I am not happy he bought it. Maybe I am paranoid but where will he use it?

OP posts:

Jeeves93 · 05/02/2015 11:10

Having epilepsy doesn't necessarily preclude him from using a rifle. It should be down to individual circumstances.

Theselittlelightsofmine · 05/02/2015 11:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Faithope · 05/02/2015 15:02

Jeeves-DS's Epilepsy isn't the usual fitting kind either, he just goes blank for a few seconds. The prolonged seizure is extremely rare and for his age. Does he have to declare it whenever he is going to use a rifle?

Paintballing is a good one too, thank you :)

OP posts:

Northernsoul58 · 05/02/2015 17:09

Faithope, I don't think owning a Swiss Army knife is illegal as such. Some kinds of knives are illegal, but hunting knives are sold by camping and angling shops etc. My DS goes camping with us - not everybody's bag I agree - and is always whittling wood and 'doing stuff' with his knife (which he's had since he was 12 BTW) when we are in the countryside.
Does your DSs school/college do the Duke of Edinburgh award that he could get involved in. There is an Expedition element (and a knife is part of the kit list).
This may sound crazy too, but what about historical re-enactment groups? They do guns and swords but it's all 'safe' and supervised.

Original poster

Faithope · 05/02/2015 17:50

Northernsoul-I read this www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives so the site that sold it to him broke the law but seems this is normal?? Carrying it is not illegal from what this says.
DS is a full time Apprentice and when applying for DoE he was shown how much he needed to put into it and decided he couldn't find the time :( which was so sad as he had his heart set on it. Hmm the re-enactment might be worth suggesting to him, hadn't thought about that, so thanks

OP posts:

CaulkheadUpNorth · 05/02/2015 17:56

A flight? I had a flight in a two man Cessna for my 17th or 18th and then carried it on as lessons (my choice, paid by pt job)

Takver · 05/02/2015 17:59

I've really enjoyed canyoning aka gorge scrambling whenever I've done it - very outdoorsy & challenging, but you're never at any significant height IYSWIM, you're working your way up the riverbed.

Takver · 05/02/2015 18:02

The Field Studies Council do activity holidays for young people 16-18, they say they meet the DofE gold criteria but are open to anyone. Would he like something like that - a chance to do some of the activities but without an ongoing time commitment?

We've been on two of their family activity holidays, and I was very impressed by the leaders & the general set up, I'd def. send dd on one when she's older if she wanted to go.

Original poster

Faithope · 06/02/2015 11:30

Even more brillaint ideas!! Thank you so much! The flights-I was looking into gliding for him yesterday so that's a good one.

Canyoning-I would have to see about that as hes not a strong swimmer but looks like fun (for him not me lol)

Those FSC holidays look great!! They do so much! Hope I can sell this to DS as I think it's exactley what he wants to do :)

So glad I posted this :)

OP posts:

Takver · 06/02/2015 12:25

You shouldn't need to be able to swim much for canyoning, at the most it's generally a question of floundering across a bit of a pool so 3 or 4 strokes, or you can usually work your way round the edge - def worth looking at.

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