Most of us know a dad and son who have a strained relationship with each other. However, that isn’t what you want for you and your teenage son.
Whether you see the situation moving in an undesirable direction or you want to improve an already strong relationship, you can use these tips for dad and teenage son bonding to accomplish your goal.
Take a Personal Interest
Maybe your partner has always been the one to sit down with him to do homework or to act as the parent-volunteer at school events. Even if you don’t have particularly fond memories of school yourself, put those feelings aside for the sake of your son.
Pursue a Shared Interest
It’s not enough to have something in common; you should work on participating in that interest together. For example, if you both like to collect coins, you could go to a rare coin exhibit together.
If baseball is the sport for which you both have a passion, take the time to go to a few games per season. You may also consider acting as the coach of your son’s team.
Taking this approach provides you both with the opportunity to learn about one another and the shared interest.
Fix a Car Together
To piggyback off of seeking a shared interest, here’s a great example. When your son’s interested in cars and getting his own driving license, you can work on fixing a car together.
Maybe it will even be the car he drives. Perhaps you have a classic car you’d like to revamp.
Gather all the tools and parts, such as those at Reggie’s Garage, you need in order to restore that set of wheels. You can pass on repair lessons you learned from your dad and hope your son does the same one day with his own boy.
Vacation Together
Larger family vacations may not provide you with the quality time you crave with your teenager. On the other hand, you may both be quick to return to everyday activities when you’re at home.
Consider going on a trip that’s just the two of you. Make sure you’re both involved in the planning.
Selecting a spot only you want to see could generate resentment from your son. If your son chooses a location you aren’t interested in, he may feel the tension on the journey.
Vacationing to a location you both want to experience allows you to create a strong memory together.
As you two are traveling together, you can take advantage of the time to teach your son some pretty valuable life lessons. Tell him stories from your youth and the things you’ve learned.
Talk to him about his goals, dreams, and ambitions. Encourage him to get passionate about something in his life and pursue it more. That could be a hobby or a potential career path. Whatever it is, he will always remember how you encouraged him.
It will be especially memorable as well because he’ll associate the trip with the moment his passion for who he may one day become started to grow. As a dad, you likely want to grow closer to your son, but you might not know-how.
Employing these tips for dad and teenage son bonding can build a strong bridge between you and your boy. Here are four things to do with your child over the weekend to promote bonding.
