Anonymous wrote:Mine (17) always says no though. What to do then?

This is just how it works with most teens at that age, one of the last things they want to do is hang out with their parents. They're separating from you (which is normal!) and they have so little free time between school jammed with AP classes, extracurriculars, part-time jobs, etc. so when they have free time, they want downtime. And hauling around town with Mom and Dad is not downtime.

That's not to say don't spend time together, we just had dinner out Saturday night with our teens, but it was just a couple hours and involved one of their favorites, eating. But telling them to jump in the car, we're going on an all-day hike or to we're going to the zoo to see the pandas on the rare Sunday they don't have soccer or volleyball? You can imagine their enthusiasm.

Sports

My college teens we go out to eat, golf, go to sporting events.

Get rid of their phones make them come up with something. I swear this generation has no creativity.

*does

Anonymous wrote:Don’t they have homework?

+1000
mine barely gets free time… when he dies we watch tv together or go out to eat.

Don’t they have homework?

I have three teen girls so shopping, restaurants and/or some kind of exercise class like pilates or yoga or whatever. BUT I never force anything if they have other plans or just feel like lounging at home.

Hiking, movies, DC for museums and/or people watching, nighttime drives sightseeing the monuments, going out to lunch or dinner. My kids are 14 and 16 and one of these usually appeals to them both.

This past weekend we all learned the Beyoncé choreography, we went to the farmers market, we watched a documentary, the kids had a sleepover, we cleaned out the toiletries and makeup brushes and made strawberry ice cream.

movie? restaurant?

Sometimes you make them go on whatever the family outing is, and sometimes you let them skip it. If you need them to attend, make sure they know ahead of time (2-3 days before). Things our older teens enjoyed: nice dinners out (because it wasn't a regular occurrence - most of our meals I cook at home), family vacations o new places where we compromised - I don't overschedule every day, but there was one planned thing for a part of each day, meals they had choices about (make your own pizza/taco/chili), when they could bring a friend to whatever the plan we were doing as a family, attending an event they were interested in (could be a Wizards game or a U of MD game, an outing to the Kennedy Center or Arena Stage)

Same here. We did so many fun thing when they were little and now we’re totally stuck when there is a random free day now that they’re all teenagers. We’re free next Saturday and I’m going to spend all week trying to come up with something we can do as a family.

I wanted them to go with me to see the pandas before they left since we loved visiting them when the kids were younger, but no one wanted to.

Mine (17) always says no though. What to do then?

We ask them if they would like join us on our outings, but are ok if they say no.

On the weekends when there is a free day. When dc were younger we were always going somewhere like museums, fairs, kids events. Now we can never find anything to do as a family that the teens like.