Spending time with our 11-year-old son is the best way my wife and I know to make sure that we get to watch him grow up. Along with having fun, we can also teach him life skills such as obedience, decision-making, and personal responsibility. We can remind him that we are always available for talking, discussing, and solving issues that come his way. Most importantly, spending time with our son lets him know that we care enough to make sure that he remembers the lessons that we teach him now to use wisely as an adult.
Video games
First, we emphasize that our son will remain active and not just play video games. Nevertheless, we all enjoy the Mario series and other games on our Wii. He usually destroys us, which makes it fun for him, but we get to talk and laugh together in the process. All three of us play the Mario Party games, and we cannot believe how good he is at these games. He loves blowing us up or knocking us off a cliff and hearing our characters scream in agony.
He and I play the Mario sports games, especially baseball. I can beat him in baseball but not the other sports. Well, I can beat him when he does not throw bombs at my defenders as they field the ball. When we play soccer, he likes to throw my characters into the electric fence that surrounds the field and watch them get electrocuted.
Board games
In the age of video games, the board game seems to have disappeared. We occasionally pull out some old games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Life. Since they take a while to play, we can talk about his schoolwork, sports, and other activities that we as parents want to know about while playing. These games also help us teach our son to follow rules and learn fair play. Scrabble helps him build his vocabulary. He especially likes Monopoly and Life because they deal with money. He is always the banker so he can count the money and make change. We started these games when he was much younger and used the money counting as math lessons. We never really let him win too often even when he was very young. That way, he learns that he must do his best and learn to lose graciously.
Going outside together
We want our son to stay active, and as with any other lesson, we need to lead by example. We have a basketball hoop in the cul-de-sac, and we have some kids on our road that like to play outside. We will all go outside and play basketball, throw a football, ride the bikes and scooters, or find some other activity. The exercise does us all some good, and we get to interact. Letting the other kids play with us also helps us build a better relationship with the neighbors.
Dave and Busters
On rainy days or as an extra bonus, we will visit our Dave and Busters. This costs some money, but it allows us to have a great time playing all kinds of games and earning tickets to get some nice prizes. Half-price Wednesdays make it even more fun during the summers or other vacations. It is large enough to make us to walk and exercise, and we can spend hours there. We let our son decide the games to play as long as he leads us respectfully. This gives him a sense of leadership and gives him a chance to make some decisions while we have fun together. Some of the games allow for two players (even though they are not really meant for that) so we team up for higher scores. Even though we spend the money, we let him choose the prizes.
Lately, we have started trying to sell the prizes on eBay. Setting up the eBay pages lets us spend more time together and make some financial decisions, which he will need to know as he grows up. I thought that I could also teach him some computer skills, but it turns out the he actually teaches me! Oh, what an eleven-year-old can teach a parent!
Invaluable
I gave up some extra income to have more time available to spend with our son. No extra pay can replace the invaluable time that we now get to spend together. I also help coach his baseball team just to get on the field with him and the other kids for exercise, teaching, and fun. My wife and I are very proud of our son, and we will do all that we can to spend time with him. My parents raised six boys and spent time with us collectively and individually. If they can do it with six, then we can do it with one. Again, we get one chance to watch him grow up, and we refuse to miss it!
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Keeping Our Eleven-Year-Old Son Active During Fall