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Things you love to do or look forward to doing with your kids (1 Viewer)

gianmarco

gianmarco

Footballguy
Nice to see what some other parents do with their kids. We can always be better parents. Just a "feel good" thread or maybe some good ideas for others. I'll start it off with just a couple off the top of my head.

Love reading books at night

Can't wait to watch all the Star Wars movies and Superman together

Can't wait for the first time riding a bike.

 
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Well, it is a little sad in my house today as my daughter is moving out into her own apartment today. She is going to college in town, lived in the dorms last year but still had all her stuff at my place. Well, she has 6 friends and they are making a trip over to her place today and she will be sleeping there tonight. So I am a little :shrug:

One thing I that I still remember is 3 years ago, my son who was 10 at the time, got into Calvin and Hobbes. So I got him The Complete Collection for Christmas. For the next 8 months, we read the entire books. He read Calvin and I read all the other voices

It was really fun

 
Camping. Doesn't matter if it's car camping, deep woods backpack trips, or backyard camping. Getting away from tv, the internet, and spending time around a fire is the most awesome thing we do with our 3 1/2 yr old.

 
WhatDoIKnow said:
dnurk said:
Camping. Doesn't matter if it's car camping, deep woods backpack trips, or backyard camping. Getting away from tv, the internet, and spending time around a fire is the most awesome thing we do with our 3 1/2 yr old.
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:shrug:
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Great minds think alike!Getting kids into the outdoors is a great way to keep them out of trouble. And it builds a lifelong sense of self reliance, appreciation for nature, and attention to details.
 
My daughter is obsessed with all things Clone Wars and Lego Star Wars, so we have been putting together all the Lego sets she got for her birthday. We also have a date every Friday (when it's the season) for Clone Wars, with all the lights out and snuggled up.

 
dnurk said:
Camping. Doesn't matter if it's car camping, deep woods backpack trips, or backyard camping. Getting away from tv, the internet, and spending time around a fire is the most awesome thing we do with our 3 1/2 yr old.
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Good one. My son just turned six today (and I wasn't able to be there. :lmao: ) but I want to start the camping thing with him. I have been going 1x year with a good buddy of mine and we have been talking about bringing our sons with us.
 
My son is 14 months old, so we haven't got to camp or anything like that. I'm looking forward to it when it happens.

So far, its:

- Neighborhood pool

- Drinking beer in the afternoon. He's great at flirting with the waitresses while daddy bends the elbow.

 
Nothing more fun than taking my 18 month old daughter in the pool. Seeing how excited she gets getting in her bathing suit, getting her towel, etc...

Also still love sitting with her while she falls asleep at night.

 
As already mentioned, camping and all things Star Wars are huge.

Family game night, every Friday night during the school year.

Movie night, about once a month during the colder weather.

Swimming, either in the pool or lake.

 
gianmarco said:
Nice to see what some other parents do with their kids. We can always be better parents. Just a "feel good" thread or maybe some good ideas for others. I'll start it off with just a couple of the top of my head.Love reading books at nightCan't wait to watch all the Star Wars movies and Superman togetherCan't wait for the first time riding a bike.
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At what age do children enjoy having a book read to them? I have a 2 1/2 year-old (...along with a 2-month old) and he seems to enjoy looking at pictures, but I don't think he has the attention span to sit patiently while I read.I'm curious b/c I'm looking forward to book time.
 
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With my 11 y.o., playing catch. Most often baseball, but it could be football, frisbee, one-on-one soccer. It's funny, none of his friends play ball, and he only played T-ball before he gave it up as a team sport, but that's our thing.

With my 22 m.o. daughter, anything to do with the water. We have a pool at our summer house, and she loves going out there. The whole process is pretty fun...getting ready, putting the suit on, finding her robe and/or towel, getting the toys together...kind of builds the anticipation...and then its 45 minutes of bliss playing in the water, just pure joy.

Whatever we're doing together, its the best part of life.

 
badmojo1006 said:
Well, it is a little sad in my house today as my daughter is moving out into her own apartment today. She is going to college in town, lived in the dorms last year but still had all her stuff at my place. Well, she has 6 friends and they are making a trip over to her place today and she will be sleeping there tonight. So I am a little :bag:

One thing I that I still remember is 3 years ago, my son who was 10 at the time, got into Calvin and Hobbes. So I got him The Complete Collection for Christmas. For the next 8 months, we read the entire books. He read Calvin and I read all the other voices

It was really fun
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That is awesome. My 10 year old son has also just discovered Calvin and Hobbes. I may steal your idea there :goodposting:
 
My son is 21 months old. I enjoy when he winds down at night and will lay his head on my shoulder when tired. I love making him laugh, it's the greatest sound to me in the world. I look forward to seeing him grow into a young man and hope I'm not too lame for him all the time. Specifically, I can't wait to go do outdoors activities and play catch.

 
Weiner Dog said:
gianmarco said:
Nice to see what some other parents do with their kids. We can always be better parents. Just a "feel good" thread or maybe some good ideas for others. I'll start it off with just a couple of the top of my head.Love reading books at nightCan't wait to watch all the Star Wars movies and Superman togetherCan't wait for the first time riding a bike.
Click to expand...
At what age do children enjoy having a book read to them? I have a 2 1/2 year-old (...along with a 2-month old) and he seems to enjoy looking at pictures, but I don't think he has the attention span to sit patiently while I read.I'm curious b/c I'm looking forward to book time.
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It's something they grow into. Our 7 year old prefers to read the book himself but will still listen, our 5 year old loves to have us read to him still. IIRC they got better about it somewhere around age 3. Our 2 year old won't sit still long enough for a full book yet but has gotten better than he was a few months ago and we can read very short books to him.
 
I like golfing with my kids. Snow angels in the sand, driving the golf cart, and of course the treats from the cart lady and getting some chow at the turn. Good times and we still do that stuff even though they are turning into teenagers.

I love going to their events (sports, performances, etc.) and them seeing us there and waving.

I take them on errands and take them to my work. It's great being a teacher and having the same schedule. We hang out a lot.

Another one is the boys and I playing the same video games and discussing strategies or playing together or against each other (the last one can get heated).

Mostly, I just love listening to them talk (no problem with the daughters :thumbup: ).

 
Weiner Dog said:
gianmarco said:
Nice to see what some other parents do with their kids. We can always be better parents. Just a "feel good" thread or maybe some good ideas for others. I'll start it off with just a couple of the top of my head.Love reading books at nightCan't wait to watch all the Star Wars movies and Superman togetherCan't wait for the first time riding a bike.
Click to expand...
At what age do children enjoy having a book read to them? I have a 2 1/2 year-old (...along with a 2-month old) and he seems to enjoy looking at pictures, but I don't think he has the attention span to sit patiently while I read.I'm curious b/c I'm looking forward to book time.
Click to expand...
We've been reading to our kids since they were infants. Our 2 yo boy will sit or lay down with me and his sister and read book after book. Every kid is different. I would start now and read stories without tons of words per page. That way you're constantly turning pages with new pictures. When they get bored encourage them to finish the story but don't force it. Read books again a different time, even the same day and especially at bedtime. Reading before bed is a real treat in our house. We'll usually read a few and the kids do more on their own when we're done. Just keep fostering a love of reading. I believe it helps them look forward to school and a wanting to learn in general. Have fun.
 
johnnyrock62000 said:
Weiner Dog said:
gianmarco said:
Nice to see what some other parents do with their kids. We can always be better parents. Just a "feel good" thread or maybe some good ideas for others. I'll start it off with just a couple of the top of my head.Love reading books at nightCan't wait to watch all the Star Wars movies and Superman togetherCan't wait for the first time riding a bike.
Click to expand...
At what age do children enjoy having a book read to them? I have a 2 1/2 year-old (...along with a 2-month old) and he seems to enjoy looking at pictures, but I don't think he has the attention span to sit patiently while I read.I'm curious b/c I'm looking forward to book time.
Click to expand...
We've been reading to our kids since they were infants. Our 2 yo boy will sit or lay down with me and his sister and read book after book. Every kid is different. I would start now and read stories without tons of words per page. That way you're constantly turning pages with new pictures. When they get bored encourage them to finish the story but don't force it. Read books again a different time, even the same day and especially at bedtime. Reading before bed is a real treat in our house. We'll usually read a few and the kids do more on their own when we're done. Just keep fostering a love of reading. I believe it helps them look forward to school and a wanting to learn in general. Have fun.
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:kicksrock: I might need to look into this camping thing. It's not something I've ever really done but it seems to be a popular choice here for good family time. I don't know the first thing about it but it looks like I'll be learning.Some others:Going to my son's first performance (school, sports, whatever) -- can't wait for thatMaking pizza with him
 
Corporation said:
badmojo1006 said:
Well, it is a little sad in my house today as my daughter is moving out into her own apartment today. She is going to college in town, lived in the dorms last year but still had all her stuff at my place. Well, she has 6 friends and they are making a trip over to her place today and she will be sleeping there tonight. So I am a little :help:

One thing I that I still remember is 3 years ago, my son who was 10 at the time, got into Calvin and Hobbes. So I got him The Complete Collection for Christmas. For the next 8 months, we read the entire books. He read Calvin and I read all the other voices

It was really fun
Click to expand...
That is awesome. My 10 year old son has also just discovered Calvin and Hobbes. I may steal your idea there :kicksrock:
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It is a great thing to do. We did probably 10 pages each night at bedtime. It was so fun and he (and I) really looked forward to it each night. And when he acted up, I would take away Calvin and Hobbes. He didn't act up that much
 
For my 10 year old daughter and I, it's always been reading. We read together many nights, and she asks every night. She's so patient with me on those nights that I don't have the time, and of course I feel guilty every time.

For my 8 year old son, he's started to get into sports the last year or so. He has minor development issues, but he's come an incredibly long way. He's to the point that he can do anything, but probably won't ever be a star athlete. We put him in his first "competitive" (i.e. keeps score) baseball league this season. I assisted coaching, which eased my concerns. That said, I was an emotional ball of worry going into the season. I didn't want him to feel out of place with other boys his age, because I know how kids can be. It went incredibly well. He improved by leaps and bounds, coaches and kids were all great (some were really incredible little ballplayers), and they ultimately went undefeated. I lived and died with his every play. Highs and lows that I don't think I ever felt as I played sports as a kid. They eventually won their post-season tourney. Seeing him accept his trophy with a beaming smile......friends, it just doesn't get any better. I had to fight back tears knowing the things he's been through.

I have a 5 year old daughter who hasn't completely latched onto something yet. I think my "thing" with her will be swimming. This year she really turned into a fish. She loves going down the slide with dad, so that means I love to go on the slide.

I can't stress enough to take every chance you can to make memories with your kids. The last couple of years, I've really begun to take stock of my life. I suppose it's a mini mid life crisis, but I think every day about whether I'm living my life in such a way that I'll look back and feel good about it. Being a good father will be #1 on the list of those things I take stock of when that time comes.

 
Just have one daughter. She's 15.

She plays softball, so we play catch a lot during the season.

Watching old movies (Star Wars, Indy Jones, LOTR...)

Camping

Cooking

 
Picking NFL games.

My wife and I started picking against each other back in '85, the year we were married.

My son, who is now 22, started picking with us in '93 when he was 5.

It has been a Sunday morning ritual for many years now.

My son and I have also been in a Fantasy league together for several years.

I've also enjoyed coaching both my kids in sports; my son in football and soccer; my daughter in soccer and basketball.

I've also played co-ed soccer with my both kids; and of course taking them to South Carolina football games, until they start attending as students. (my daughter will be a freshman this year.)

 
My son is 5 which is a real fun age -off the top of my head we like:

1. Going out for ice cream at the local ice cream shop downtown, or getting ice cream from the ice cream man when he comes by.

2. Camping

3. Miniature golf

4. Playing air hockey with each other

5. Riding bikes together

6. Going out to the local playground

7. Washing my car together

8. Watching Spiderman movies/cartoons together.

9. I draw him pictures and he colors them in and vice versa

10. Minor league baseball games - he's not ready for a major league game yet.

11. Cooking stuff together - like cookies, muffins, pancakes, etc.

12. Going out to breakfast with him on Sunday mornings at the same local restaurant

13. Reading books

14. Taking him to MSU Spring football game.

15. Taking him to the kiddie go-karts and watching him race around the track.

 
I have 3 kids and one of our favorite things to do is to make a pallet on the floor, or sometimes a tent or "fortress". We will watch movies, play board games, bake cookies and eat popcorn until we all drop.

I also spend a lot of time with my kids playing sports, mostly basketball. For the little ones I let them invent basketball games for us to play.

My son loves to play Halo so we do that some too.

 
One of the better threads that I have noticed on these boards, thanks. I can relate with most of the special moments mentioned thus far. You have caused me to pause and reflect on many wonderful experiences that have occured with my wife and our three daughters. For that I thank you.

I will respond from a slightly different perspective since our daughters are now in their fifties and my wife has passed. I choose to look at the moments that have left a lasting feeling of joy. The early years were an eye opening feeling of daily amazements. I miss watching the girls struggle to walk and learning to talk. Most of all I miss holding them and watching as they fell to sleep. As they grew older I appreciated the passions that they developed for their own lives. These were certainly lasting experiences that I will always cherish.

Moments that the girls and I remember fondly in a shared way usually focus on private conversations that we had in dealing with difficult situations. It was times like this that being a parent would be replaced by a sense of partnership and a common love.

 
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Great thread.

1) Family vacations. I'm a big believer in creating memories, and the pictures that adorn the house and umpteen photo albums are phenomenal.

2) Parenting. I love teaching them about life and giving them nuggets of wisdom they'll find useful in life. And it's amazing that although you think they never listen to you, osmosis must work because you hear them repeating what you said verbatim to others later. Beautiful thing.

3) Traditions. Love creating our own family traditions. It could be giving our lab a pancake with peanut butter on it every year for his birthday (Bailey is 15 now, been with my kids virtually their whole lives), or having Dad's creamed corn every Christmas Dinner, or taking bikes to the fire station every year to give to kids less fortunate, etc.

4) Family Dinners. We sit down as a family for virtually every meal when together. It takes no time to put placemats down on the kitchen table and sit down. Their friends love to eat over our house because we sit, talk, laugh, etc. Amazing to me how many families don't do this.

 
Sea Bass said:
One of the better threads that I have noticed on these boards, thanks. I can relate with most of the special moments mentioned thus far. You have caused me to pause and reflect on many wonderful experiences that have occured with my wife and our three daughters. For that I thank you.I will respond from a slightly different perspective since our daughters are now in their fifties and my wife has passed. I choose to look at the moments that have left a lasting feeling of joy. The early years were an eye opening feeling of daily amazements. I miss watching the girls struggle to walk and learning to talk. Most of all I miss holding them and watching as they fell to sleep. As they grew older I appreciated the passions that they developed for their own lives. These were certainly lasting experiences that I will always cherish.Moments that the girls and I remember fondly in a shared way usually focus on private conversations that we had in dealing with difficult situations. It was times like this that being a parent would be replaced by a sense of partnership and a common love.
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:thumbup:
 
Putting them to sleep. Girls are 8 and 11 and I ask them both a spelling and math question suitable for their age. Then we do a "teddy flip" where I take their favorite teddy and call out the flip they are going to do (triple backwards upside down 360 degree lundy, or something like that) and toss the teddy crazily at them to catch. Most of the time, this is the highlight of my day.

 
2 kids(3rd is coming any day)

Both of my kids as infants always loved to snuggle in my beard/neck when I was putting them to sleep. One of the greatest times of fatherhood.

Being with them any time they experience something for the first time. Holding my son for fireworks this 4th was great. Every time one exploded, he snapped his head at me and had the biggest smile on his face. Melted me on the spot.

Swimming. My aunt has a pool, so we have been swimming every week for most of the summer. Watching my 4 yr old daughter progress this year has been extremely fun to watch.

Every day, when I come home from work, my daughter hides and my son alway screams, runs to me and gives me a huge hug. I put him down and find my daughter, and she always does the same thing.

 
I spent a portion of my weekend holding my arms in a circle in front of me and being a hoop in a game of basketball involving three year olds. Great times!

It's awesome seeing a little one interested in learning and determined to improve. I taught one of the little guys how to dribble and several times throughout the day I'd look over and see him practicing dribbling with a laser-like focus in his eyes.

 
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This year I introduced my 10 year old to "The Far Side". I love to see my kids laugh at the same stuff I laugh at.

 
Whats a good age to get the kids out tent camping?

I got a 4 month old, which obviously is too young, but I can't wait to go out in the woods.

 
Have a 5 month old daughter and of course I enjoy all the milestones more than the last. First, smiling melted me. Then she laughed. Now she is saying Dada. Holding her in the pool, even if just for a little bit, is great. Seeing her experience things for the first time. Even though this year will be more for mine and my wife's enjoyment since she will be so little, we can't wait to take her to the pumpkin patch and dressing her up on Halloween and everything associated with her first Christmas.

 
My 5 yo and 7 yo have been asking me about the toys I played with as a kid. Either tonight or tomorrow night I'm going to break out those bad boys that I've saved throughout 15 moves.

Mattel Football II

Coleco Head to Head Electronic Baseball

Legos - 700 piece box

Hot Wheels

Fort Apache, Comanche Pass and millions of Army Men.

Other stuff I can't remember but I thought would be cool to save. Can't wait to go through it and share with my kids.

 
johnnyrock62000 said:
My 5 yo and 7 yo have been asking me about the toys I played with as a kid. Either tonight or tomorrow night I'm going to break out those bad boys that I've saved throughout 15 moves.

Mattel Football II

Coleco Head to Head Electronic Baseball

Legos - 700 piece box

Hot Wheels

Fort Apache, Comanche Pass and millions of Army Men.

Other stuff I can't remember but I thought would be cool to save. Can't wait to go through it and share with my kids.
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Awesomeness! Many, many hours of my life were spent playing that game. If your little man doesn't like it as much as we did... I'll take it.He should love it, though.

 
Bugs. I love taking my boys (5 and 3) on "bug hunts" where we troop around the backyard picking up rocks and things, looking for bugs. Usually we just finds ants, spiders, and pillbugs but sometimes we get lucky. Found a Stag Beetle once that really freaked them out. We've also seen cicadas lately - my oldest even found the shed skin of one on a tree so I was able to describe how bug skin doesn't grow so they crawl out of their old skin and leave it behind.

 
Tecumseh said:
My daughter is obsessed with all things Clone Wars and Lego Star Wars, so we have been putting together all the Lego sets she got for her birthday. We also have a date every Friday (when it's the season) for Clone Wars, with all the lights out and snuggled up.
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Did you get the LEGO Star-Wars game?
 
I have an eleven year old that is getting into comic books. I went up to the attic and got out my old comic books. Like three bank boxes full of Avengers, Iron Man, Spider Man, Thor, X-men etc.

I may have well as brought down the arc of the covenant as far as he's concerned. We've been reading them quite a bit.

 
jb1020 said:
Whats a good age to get the kids out tent camping? I got a 4 month old, which obviously is too young, but I can't wait to go out in the woods.
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Travelling in general gets MUCH easier when they no longer need the mid-day nap. That was always the tough part. We always really tried to keep our kids on a regular schedule. This takes work, but makes everyone's life much easier.We first took our kids camping when they were 6mos old, but its not really "easy". You need to be considerate if you're in close quarters, which means taking them for a drive late at night to put them to sleep, or early in the morning when they wake up if they're screaming. Anyone who says taking babies camping is easy, is full of it.
 
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Id say my favorite thing is travelling with them. Ill really miss this someday.

Not only the joy and excitement of watching them experience new things, but also the special treatment you get when you take your kids somewhere "out of the ordinary". I'm always amazed (and sometimes relieved) at how much nicer people are to you when you have small kids along. The language/cultural barrier seems to disappear and people view you as a family, just like them, and not just another self-centered tourist. You suddenly become very approachable and people go out of their way to make sure you're having a great experience.

 
This is one of my favorite threads in a long time ... and I don't even have kids yet. I'm looking forward to the day when I have the type of cool moments you have all posted.

Here's to children and their great fathers.

:stalker:

 
gmbacm said:
pick up from daycare - highlight of my day!
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This is awesome. Seeing your little girl run as hard as she can yelling DADDY into your arms is just too awesome for words. Gets better every time too.
 
Great thread.

With my daughter (8), our favorite thing to do is read before bedtime. We have the first 10 volumes in the Nancy Drew mystery series and just started book 3. This is our special thing. I love that she likes such a simple, "hokey" book series and isn't so grown-up that she thinks it is lame. (I know that day is coming, though).

She also has started running with me some in the mornings, so I hope that continues.

For the boys, we love to:

- play handball in the house

- play Mario Kart on the Wii

- sing to them each night as I tuck them in bed. I've always sung Elvis' "

" to them before bed each night.- draw pictures of aliens where we take turns adding parts (I draw the eyes, son draws the nose, I draw the mouth, etc.) This is a new one that is really fun, because we end up with little collaborative drawings.

I wish I could bottle the stage we're in right now. :lmao:

 
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E-Z Glider said:
Id say my favorite thing is travelling with them. Ill really miss this someday.Not only the joy and excitement of watching them experience new things, but also the special treatment you get when you take your kids somewhere "out of the ordinary". I'm always amazed (and sometimes relieved) at how much nicer people are to you when you have small kids along. The language/cultural barrier seems to disappear and people view you as a family, just like them, and not just another self-centered tourist. You suddenly become very approachable and people go out of their way to make sure you're having a great experience.
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:goodposting: Traveling with the kids is one of my favorite things, too. Some people hate driving on long vacations, but I look forward to loading up my family in the van and driving with them across the country. Aside from the vacation destination itself, I love the time we spend together in the car.
 
Too many to list them all...a few that stand out (5 year old boy, and 3 year old girl):

- family breakfasts at a local diner after my son's hockey games & daughter's gymnastics

- at-home movie nights

- playing catch or throwing batting practice with my boy

- when my little girl climbs into our bed at 6:30am and snuggles for 15 or 20 minutes

- reading books to my son each night before bed, and now having him read them to me

As for one I'm looking forward to the most, I'm planning on building a backyard ice rink this winter. Look forward to many hours of skating and playing hockey with the whole family, and watching him skate and play with his little buddies. Can't wait.

 
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