Family bonding experiences

[gabosaurus]

Sports fan that I am (it's my dad's fault), I have always been disappointed that my daughter did not share my enthusiasm for such. Until she began dating a guy who loved hockey. We gave them tickets to see the Anaheim Ducks a few times and she was hooked. Which gave me a chance to take my daughter to see Game 7 of the Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers NHL playoff series last night. Not only was it a great game, but it gave us a chance to go absolutely nuts together. That being said, I was hoping that DP members can share a few of their parent-kid bonding experiences here. (I promise not to make a joke about tailfins taking his sons to Brazil :rolleyes: )

[Gunny]

Sports fan that I am (it's my dad's fault), I have always been disappointed that my daughter did not share my enthusiasm for such. Until she began dating a guy who loved hockey. We gave them tickets to see the Anaheim Ducks a few times and she was hooked. Which gave me a chance to take my daughter to see Game 7 of the Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers NHL playoff series last night. Not only was it a great game, but it gave us a chance to go absolutely nuts together. That being said, I was hoping that DP members can share a few of their parent-kid bonding experiences here. (I promise not to make a joke about tailfins taking his sons to Brazil :rolleyes: )

I actually don't know which would be worse. Brazil with TF or a gay-ass hockey game. Jumping of the Golden Gate Bridge sounds like a better option.

[gabosaurus]

Gunny, you should try watching hockey. Especially the NHL playoffs. The action moves a lot faster than football and there is a lot of hitting. My daughter, being a normal teenager, don't have a long attention span. So if she can get involved in the game, I don't see why you can't. Think of it as Combat On Ice. :cool:

[Gunny]

Gunny, you should try watching hockey. Especially the NHL playoffs. The action moves a lot faster than football and there is a lot of hitting. My daughter, being a normal teenager, don't have a long attention span. So if she can get involved in the game, I don't see why you can't. Think of it as Combat On Ice. :cool:

No thanks. There's boring as Hell, then there's boring as Hell. Hockey is below that. ZERO interest. And it interferes with otherwise good sports that could be put. Hell, I'd watch pro wrestling before I would hockey.

If I had to choose between hockey, bowling and golf I'd choose the golf so long as it was the one at Torrey Pines. There's a cliff I can jump head first off there.

[Abbey Marie]

Hockey on TV is torture. Hockey in person sitting in the first row by the boards near the net is pretty exciting. The guys tend to crash into them right in front of you.

[Kathianne]

My sons enjoy going to hockey games, too violent for me.

Looking back I'd say that the bonding experiences that 'stick' with both the kids and I are certainly vacations. Somehow when I am away from home, I'm more relaxed and would let them explore a bit. (Hence why I'm probably enjoying AZ so much, it's like a vacation most of the time.)

Other than those I'd say the most memorable times were the impossible to plan for-like stumbling onto reading what I wanted to read, outloud to the kids when the youngest was 6. Jurassic Park was the first, they still talk about that! Especially how I'd have to tone down some for Derek, then tell the older two what really happened. LOL! It became a game to find the 'grossest' novels to read, though we did cover a lot of classics too. (I forget the title of the novel about an Ebola breakout, but they really liked it.)

Dinner time was always family time, one thing I've noticed is that all 3 of them still expect to 'sit down' and talk without electronics for dinner. Both boys do a lot of the meals at their homes. Bryan cause he likes to cook, Derek because he likes to eat. His fiance isn't that into cooking, though she's been trying. LOL! Choosing restaurants was also a treat, though we usually ended up at Olive Garden-the one place they call could agree on. What sticks though were the dinners out following something special like plays or concerts or when my parents would join us. "Remember when we went to Lawry's and saw all the Bulls?" or when Grandpa got a limo to go to The Nutcracker and to American Grill after. Good times!

[gabosaurus]

What sticks though were the dinners out following something special like plays or concerts or when my parents would join us. "Remember when we went to Lawry's and saw all the Bulls?" or when Grandpa got a limo to go to The Nutcracker and to American Grill after. Good times!

Because my dad and I shared a lot of sports and music, I bonded most with him. My sister always had a great love of movies, which appealed more to my mom. I always loved the special occasions as well, like going to "grown up restaurants" with my parents (since we rarely ate out) as well as concerts.
I try to make sure that my daughter gets a variety of experiences. She has gone to rock concerts with my parents and I, Spanish language music shows with my sister and the symphony with my husband's parents. Which is how she developed her interest in playing piano.
We're going back to see the Ducks on Sunday in the next round of the playoffs. My husband says he is OK paying an exorbitant amount for tickets as long as he doesn't have to go with us. :laugh:

[Gunny]

My sons enjoy going to hockey games, too violent for me.

Looking back I'd say that the bonding experiences that 'stick' with both the kids and I are certainly vacations. Somehow when I am away from home, I'm more relaxed and would let them explore a bit. (Hence why I'm probably enjoying AZ so much, it's like a vacation most of the time.)

Other than those I'd say the most memorable times were the impossible to plan for-like stumbling onto reading what I wanted to read, outloud to the kids when the youngest was 6. Jurassic Park was the first, they still talk about that! Especially how I'd have to tone down some for Derek, then tell the older two what really happened. LOL! It became a game to find the 'grossest' novels to read, though we did cover a lot of classics too. (I forget the title of the novel about an Ebola breakout, but they really liked it.)

Dinner time was always family time, one thing I've noticed is that all 3 of them still expect to 'sit down' and talk without electronics for dinner. Both boys do a lot of the meals at their homes. Bryan cause he likes to cook, Derek because he likes to eat. His fiance isn't that into cooking, though she's been trying. LOL! Choosing restaurants was also a treat, though we usually ended up at Olive Garden-the one place they call could agree on. What sticks though were the dinners out following something special like plays or concerts or when my parents would join us. "Remember when we went to Lawry's and saw all the Bulls?" or when Grandpa got a limo to go to The Nutcracker and to American Grill after. Good times!We load up the picnic basket and head out to one of the lakes or rivers around here, or go to one of the water parks. We like to DO stuff, not watch others do it.

I'm the only one in my immediate family interested in any sports. My stepfather will watch them but they live 60 miles away.

[Elessar]

We load up the picnic basket and head out to one of the lakes or rivers around here, or go to one of the water parks. We like to DO stuff, not watch others do it.

I'm the only one in my immediate family interested in any sports. My stepfather will watch them but they live 60 miles away.

Neil and I would play basketball, ride bikes, go to the beach (and destroy each other's sand castles), play cards,
read, explore museums up in 'Mother Lode Country', and go rock picking for gold.

When he got older, I went to all of his football games and quite a few practices, as well as his wrestling matches.

[jimnyc]

I grew up with the father/son bonding over sports, in various ways. And that was Dad and all of his sons. First off, we all played baseball and football growing up. Dad was coach in both leagues, and coach of the teams I was on. I was pitcher and QB. I didn't realize it and appreciate it at the time, but it was a lot of bonding. Dad also took me/us to a lot of games, almost all NFL games, and mostly pre-season (cheap bastard!) I'll never forget the Steelers coming to Giants stadium. And although we sat upper tier, Dad being a photographer, and having a cool as hell telephoto lens, took a few photos of "Mean" Joe Greene, and they looked like we were in the first row!