As my Veg Kid grows in to a Veg Teen, he is really beginning to utilize his powers of: "I will do what I want because I already know everything there is to know"
The thing is, that he has several years before becoming a teen, but I will say that I'm incredibly proud of the young man he has become. Even when his choices aren't optimal, and his testing boundaries are at full swing, he is still a free spirited, strong willed, intelligent and amazing young man that I couldn't be prouder to call my son. All that stubbornness will keep him on the right track someday when he is up against tough decisions but as a parent there is a fine line between allowing disrespect and squashing his spirit too. A line that I'm working very hard to stay balanced on.
However, along this journey of parenthood we have hit a snag. He is too old for crafts, no longer likes the childhood activities that we used to participate in and would be perfectly happy for 10hrs with a video game in hand. Sadly his Dad continues to play video games too which makes my pull to the light side even more complicated.
It is my job to set boundaries, real life situations and consequences of those choices. Sure, I end up the bad guy sometimes but when my idea of consequence is an out of the house adventure day, life gets just a little more sweet.
Sometimes you just have to have alone time with your kid to put life in to perspective. I encourage every parent to make this a priority. When things seem out of hand, change the scenery. Put the phones and the computers down to just have some fun and get to know your children at each stage of their development. It isn't always about making sure they are cared for, sometimes it is just about showing them that you care.
Our Adventure day lead us to three rounds of putt-putt with more hole-in-ones than ever before. (I even won a free game) We had some arcade time, pretty views, a nice walk, beautiful Christmas decorations, an amazing lunch and kid approved shopping at a comic store.
Needless to say, it was a ton of fun and the weather was perfect for us. The best thing about our adventure days is that nothing is planned. We just wake up, check the weather situation and head out the door.
I really love our adventure days!!