If you don’t like football, what do you talk about with your teen son?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meet him where he is. You learn with him and enjoy it through his eyes. Thats what I did when DS was into Pokemon, or Greek mythology, or animals, or diggers… you find out what they love about it and learn to love it too.

Yes! My parents expected us to have their passions and to this day, they aren’t interested in engaging with us on things that interest us. That leads to a much more surface level relationship.

It’s nice that you’re interested in connecting with him. It’s important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your son is pretty dumb if he can only talk about football

Disagree. OP is pretty dumb if she can’t figure out a topic to talk about with her son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I can appreciate your question as I have multiple sons, although in my case it's primarily baseball. What these PPs who obviously don't have sons don't get is the bonds of communication that men experience when talking about the nuances of sports. I see it in the conversation between my husband and the boys. They aren't just "talking about football" or whatever. There is a lot more to it than that.

What I've done:

Read up on their favorite team and at least learn the names of the key players. Know how the team is doing every week. Know who and when they are playing each week. Show some interest in whether they win or lose. Keep up with general team news, e.g. a coach is fired, a major player is injured and out for the season, etc. Learn the basics of the game. I get it about the noise in the house with all the cheering, but try to be a part of that - make the chili or order the pizza, for example. They will appreciate the effort and this is one of those things that will get better as they get older and realize that most girls aren't into it as much as they are, either!

I have teen and adult sons who love sports and have never felt the need to do a research project of this sort, nor to make a production of feeding them while they watch outside of championship games. I do sit on the couch with them often when they are watching their sports (football, basketball, and soccer) and read or play sudoku. They like to point out great plays to me on replay, and they don’t care that I am not following the games closely. They (and DH) just enjoy the company and family couch time.

They are also capable of and interested in talking about non-sports related subjects too—school, friends, music, work, food, movies, books, etc. if OP’s son is only capable of or willing to talk to her about sports, I think it’s time to get some new family hobbies and activities.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure your son doesn't want to watch football with you interrupting every few minutes to ask what's going on. Find something else to discuss. Talk about the news and current events. That's easy enough.

[Anonymous]

Thank God, we are not a team sports household. I can talk sailing with my husband, who loves it, and horse back riding with my daughter, who loves it. My son is into espionage and military strategy. I've learned a lot from him. They indulge me when I talk about animal husbandry (I'm an animal biologist).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son is pretty dumb if he can only talk about football

Disagree. OP is pretty dumb if she can’t figure out a topic to talk about with her son.

You don't have a teen son, do you?

[Anonymous]

Soccer
Current events
School
His friends (what they are up to and how they are doing)
South Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other than touchdowns, I just don’t get football. I hate the noise of it all in our home but I am trying to learn about it to have something to talk about with my son.

Moms what do you talk about with your older teen boy?

I would learn the game and teams and talk to him about what he is interested in. This will show you care.

[Anonymous]

Literally, everything else. We don’t follow football. My son loves to debate about politics, opinions, religion. He likes to talk about why people act the way they do. Also- food, cooking, pets, gossip, teachers, dreams, goals for future, clubs, games, etc.

[Anonymous]

We talk about his sport. His older brother also did the same sport, so I've learned through osmosis when a practice is hard and what is good and not good.

We talk about fishing, which he loves. I've even gone fishing with him a few times.

I am not a football fan. But I will watch his favorite team from time to time. The cool thing here is that he is in a position of knowledge and can teach me things! Every year we go over a 1st down. Yesterday he actually paused the game to explain the difference between a running back and a wide receiver. We will probably have to go over that again a few times. But he did it really nicely and without insulting me, so that was fun.

[Anonymous]

My son also loves football to an extreme. Thankfully I knew the basics, and now I’ve spent time learning more. It’s worth it.

My husband had to do the same to engage my daughters in the interests they have that he doesn’t share (dance and gymnastics).

We all discuss other stuff, school, politics, silly celebrity stuff, travel etc. But it is 100% worth it to show your child that you are willing to engage with them on the thing that brings them joy

[Anonymous]

Start listening to the Kelce brothers' podcast, New Heights, it's entertaining and will give you some football IQ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other than touchdowns, I just don’t get football. I hate the noise of it all in our home but I am trying to learn about it to have something to talk about with my son.

Moms what do you talk about with your older teen boy?

Does your son have any interests besides football? If not, I guess you have one helluva dull son. In that case, you will have to pretend to care about football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your son is pretty dumb if he can only talk about football

Disagree. OP is pretty dumb if she can’t figure out a topic to talk about with her son.

Let's be honest, they are both dimwitted. Maybe they could talk about what it's like to have low tone brains.

[Anonymous]

I hear you, its a current obsession and sad that it could last into adulthood. I try to pivot around football to incorporate math and player stats, talk about pros and cons of how commercial sport has become and then encourage actually playing football building up fitness, etc. (running at the track, doing push ups, etc.)