What do you do with your kiddos?

[05lly2500hd]

I'm not a seasoned father, but I have two boys. One is about to turn 3 and the other is about to turn 2, withing 2 weeks of each other. I find it hard to take them to do much because of my work schedule. And it's partly my fault too, I could put my foot down more and take off on weekends to take them out, but I feel to stressed and obligated.

What do you take your boys out to do? Just curious what your kiddos enjoy and what's a little more proper for their age. I'd like to take mine fishing....but I don't think they would enjoy it at their age. I'd like to take them camping, just us guys, which is something I'm planning...
anywho, post up what you fellers do.

 

[Jasondt2001]

One thing I remember when I was young was having my dad all to myself camping. Camp fires, stories, him letting me carve 'important' things with his pocket knife, scavenging firewood... it's funny what you remember being a adult.

 

[05lly2500hd]

One thing I remember when I was young was having my dad all to myself camping. Camp fires, stories, him letting me carve 'important' things with his pocket knife, scavenging firewood... it's funny what you remember being a adult.

That's cool. I want the boys to remember me that way. I don't want them to look back and think he ALWAYS worked.

My father passed when i was very young, and I grew up without a father figure. So I never really got to go fishing, or camping or hunting, etc. So I had to rely on my buddies to show me how to fish, camp, etc.

 

[Jasondt2001]

Sometimes you can't drop everything to spend time with them, I think it's very admirable the way you're thinking now though.
Sometimes just letting them spend time with you in the garage, I know they're young so they're into EVERYTHING - and you'll get NOTHING done - but, I felt good handing my dad the wrong wrenches every weekend at his place while working on his truck.
He also got nothing done
I think it's funny that the things I know my parents would never think I would remember (or didn't want me to know lol) would be things I remember as an adult... so always be watchful of the eyes and ears around you; you'd be amazed at how much they value you. It's not easy being a hero, but, until they rebel when they're 13 - it's your job :hello:

 

[Alligator]

I have 2 boys, 7 and 9. We have a couple of hobbies, RC cars and Camping trips to the mountains and dunes. We play in the yard at night with the RC's, fix them when they break, and hop them up to run faster. It's a great hobby, because it teaches them responsibility, if they break it, they have to wait until it's fixed (which could be a day or a week) to use it again, and they have to help pay for hop ups.

Going camping to the dunes is the favorite thing for them. they absolutely love those trips, more family memories are made there for us than anywhere else. It is not a cheap hobby, but it is something we all can enjoy together and do as a family. The boys love to ride their quads, they can't stop talking about when we can do it again. I think these types of hobbies give them something to look forward too, something to keep them out of trouble, and I get to be a part of it until they don't let me anymore, so I'll hang on to it for as long as I can.

 

[LT1BRD]

my parents split up when i was young, so i don't have many memories with my father. the ones that stick out the most were little things that were fun to me, but work to him. i loved steering the riding lawn mower (5 acres) when I was real young, and eventually driving it myself @ around 6 years old. he would teach me to fix bicycle flats and how to widdle wood (more so using a knife correctly). camping in the back yard was always fun. we lived between New Braunfels and Canyon Lake in Texas, so there were lots of trees around. camping in the back was like being in the middle of nowhere. also, 5 acres seems like 100 acres when you are little. i don't have kids of my own yet, but you can't go wrong if you just try a little. my dad worked a lot, but i loved it when i saw him coming down the road. also, going to work with him was fun too...he is an electrician.

 

[gr8shot]

going to work with him was fun too...he is an electrician.

I agree there ^^^. I had some awesome times with my dad at work when I was little. He operated heavy equipment, usually a JD paddle scraper. It had a little tiny padded ledge in the back of the cab that I fit perfect in. He'd let me run the hydraulics for the paddle, and I'd ride with him all day.

We also fish, and golf, shoot, and hunt together, and still do quite often. he started me on guns when I turned 10. Shot my first goose at 12, so we spent a lot of time together. It's more the time you spend together than the activities. When I was a kid anything was fun, so just spend time doing anything you can with them. Whether it's garage time, work, or just wrestling in the grass after work, it's just the effort that matters to a kid.

 

[SmokeShow]

some of my best memories with the ol' man (he passed away a few years ago ) were in the fields and woods hunting. I can't remember it but I'm told I was right there in the mix of things, diaper and all, in the garage too.


I'm not a father yet either but I think the time and experience with them is probably more important than what you all are actually doing.


C-ya

 

[03demax]

I have two princesses. One just turned 4 my youngest is 2.5. It is not the money spent on them, it is the time with you. I need to spend more time with them. Give them your love and approval. If you do not they will look for it until they find it...a gang or some other "father" figure. For me I am always telling them they are my princesses and that they are beautiful and check them in the morning to see if they got more beautiful. Of coarse they do!! For boys I am not totally sure what to do, but asking for advice is a great place to start. Ask God for direction on what to do and how to do it.

 

[stacks04]

my guy, 3, does everything with me. unless it is unsafe for him. he enjoys so it so much it not funny. just yesterday i had finished painting my stacks and was putting them on and he came out tried grabbing the second one out of my car, he got up in the bed and proceded to pretend to put it on. covering the thing in hand prints and dirt. its hard to get mad at that though. when mom goes back to work she teaches dance so her hours are evenings me and little guy are on our own. we usually go to the tractor supply store, homedepot, walmart, or cabelas. and dont ask me why but the kids loves reloading:happy2:. he spends hours with me pulling the lever when i say to. he is also very content just following me around the yard while doing yard work. hopefully all will become fond memories and lessons for him some day.

 

[Trippin]

I have two daughters, one 16 and one 11.

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

In other words if you set up a time for you and your kid(s) to do something, move heaven and earth to make sure you keep your word. More is caught than taught, so lead by your actions. Make sure they know they can always depend on you.

Kids really respond to a regular schedule, it gives them comfort to be able to count on things to occur on a regular basis, so set up a special time each week for you guys to do someting. It may be as simple as a trip to 7-11 each Saturday for a Slurpee, or a time to throw the ball around after dinner each Wed. night.

Hope this helps,

Guy

 

[Pondsy]

They are a little young to take camping by yourself at this point I think. We take my son (turns 2 in October) and I'd never get set up or packed up w/out someone to watch him. His energy level is OFF the charts. If I let him stay up, he's dancing in the living room to ZZTOP on that Palladium cable channel at 10pm with no signs of stopping. :rofl:

Guy's right on about your actions speaking louder than words though - I got cut off in the truck in the rain and almost lost it. I did all I could to control my emotions and didn't say a word I wanted to - my son chimed in with "it's ok daddy - no crash"!! Took away all my anger. I couldn't believe he could process and understand that much of the situation. I don't really say things like "say thank you, please, bless you, welcome etc" but we make sure that we do at the approriate times and he picks up stuff that way better.

Anyway - my boy loves camping, swimming (rediculously - beach, lake, pool, doesn't matter), anything motorized with wheels (he has a JD tractor and Harley and asks for them constantly). Most of all - he knows when it's the weekend b/c he doesn't go to day care in the AM and he starts immediately asking if we are going to cut the grass!:rofl: He has his own mower and follows me all around the yard for about two hours. Everytime I stop to refuel or empty the catcher, he stops and trys to imitate my actions. I hear ya on the time factor though! It's tough to find/make time for the balance.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll be a great dad with that attitude!!

 

[mmangels22]

Just do what you think the kid will enjoy, being outdoors is the best.

 

[bighawg]

I have two daughters, one 16 and one 11.

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

In other words if you set up a time for you and your kid(s) to do something, move heaven and earth to make sure you keep your word. More is caught than taught, so lead by your actions. Make sure they know they can always depend on you.

Kids really respond to a regular schedule, it gives them comfort to be able to count on things to occur on a regular basis, so set up a special time each week for you guys to do someting. It may be as simple as a trip to 7-11 each Saturday for a Slurpee, or a time to throw the ball around after dinner each Wed. night.

Hope this helps,

Guy

Guy is 100% correct, do what you say you will do. My parents split when I was 7, and I remember getting all ready for a big weekend with my dad and him being a no show. Thats the absolute worst thing you could ever do. Took me a long time to get over it.

It does not really matter what you do as long as you spend time with them. That's what kids really want. When my kids were young they loved Chucky Cheese and the video arcade.

My son has loved burn outs since he was three. We get in the truck and he would say "hold the brake and hit the gas daddy". He is 10 now and he still loves it. It can be the most simple things that stick out in a child's mind.

Guy is also correct about a schedule, get your kids on one and stick to it. You will be amazed how they will thrive structured schedule. Good luck. It's obvious that you are a good dad because you are concerned about these things. :hug:

 

[68skylark455]

Mine are 19, 15, and 9. I do have to work alot to pay the bills but I have always tried to have fun whenever we are together. We wrestle all the time (my mother complains) , they helped me build the stroker and I do mean helped, they were as greasy if not more then me (expirence does that). We ride bikes as a family, go to movies, church, the mall, races, concerts. I try to have them with me as often as possible. We even build extra rooms, we just did 2 twin built-in beds in the 9 and 15's room and built a wall on the back of the house to enclose the porch so I can do more at home. They fight, argue over measurement but it always works out. I would do anything for them. Just as Guy said, never say it if you don't mean to do it. And while around them never grow to old to laugh and play, it makes them feel that they have a true friend and not a grown up trying to be a kid just for their sake, besides, I refuse to grow up ask my wife-4 Boys-1 Girl-She's out numbered but still runs the roost!!:happy2:

 

[Turbo Buick 6]

Spending time with your kids is great and its wonderful you want to spend more time with them but just because you work alot doesn't make you a bad father. When I was younger my father used to work 14 hours a day 364 days a year on the road for several years straight....even befor and after that he was only home maybe 2 weekends a month and was usually very tired. I would have liked more time with him but would take him in a heart beat over some deadbeat dad that doesn't want to work, is on welfare, home all the time and struggles to put food on the table. He did what he needed to do to make sure that my mother and I could live the way he wanted us to.....

But when he was home we did projects in the garage together and rode dirtbikes.....when I was in the second grade he got me a real bulldozer and we rebuilt it together and made a moto-x track in the back yard for me to practice on (yes he let me drive it myself at that age:coolspot I also remember a project together putting a weedwacker motor on a skateboard I may have not played sports but I had the coolest stuff in town:happy2:

 

[JD Dave]

I have 5 kids the youngest 10 months and the oldest is 12. I find it's the little things that kids appreciate the most, they just like being included. Around the farm kids enjoy helping out with little jobs. My fondest memories with my dad all involve farm equipment, either driving them or fixing them. Kids are like sponges when they are little and they love to be a part of everything, so try and include them. I also agree with everything Guy said.

 

[LBZ_Duramax]

Im 20 and the thing that sticks out the most in my mind is going to work with my dad and getting to just ride with him if we had to go anywhere. He also would take me to the fire department he volunteered on for meetings because he had to testdrive the fire trucks and I could ride.

 

[Dozerboy]

I agree doing something small like a trip for Ice Cream once a week would be great. My stepdad tried to spend time with me, but he ran his own construction company and was/is a workaholic. I have lots of great memories with him, and know he did the best he could. He didn't keep to him word all that well and that does stick in my mind. My Biodad was a POS he wasn't really abusive, but I wasn't much more then a work horse to him. Atleast that was the way he made me feel. He taught me a ton though some good some bad. Didn't keep his word worth a shit. I lost all respect for him at 12 or 13 and it only got worse from there. I do have some good memories with him as well though.

I guess mine sounds more like what not to do with the kiddos.

 

[delong_1]

did you put this in the wrong thread

either way you either have a weak pump or restrictions i would think. that could be a large factor in loosing rail pressure.