remnantprep
Senior Member
People do not exist for the sake of governments!
Posts: 4,399 
Likes: 3,968
Email: remnant@ausprep.org
|
Post by remnantprep on Dec 3, 2013 21:11:18 GMT 10
I have three older children, 17 , 19 and 21! My two eldest don't live with us but my 17 year old son does. This is the scene for what I am posting:
Hubby and I on the couch searching you tube for news items that are important to know about! Son in bean bag with back to news. How am I allowing this to occur? He has no interest in the news. I ask him what he is looking up on his mobile phone. Apparently just Wikipedia articles about tv shows!!! Arrgghh, I want to turn him around, shake him and say "Look, at this, this is important, wake up, learn something."
How do we wake up our older children? The lights came on for my eldest daughter but not enough, still very dim. I don't even know if she watches news. I am going to have to be tough, put my foot down and say "This is what you need to be doing right now. You need to know these things."
I need to find a way to connect him to the real world and not this fake world of social media. Yes it can have its uses but how do you connect them to what is important? I know some may think he is still young, give him time, but we may not have much time.
So I will press on in my adventures in Teen Land and hopefully the lights will come on.
|
|
beckles
Senior Member
Posts: 218
Likes: 349
|
Post by beckles on Dec 5, 2013 12:17:59 GMT 10
I have the same issue with my 17yo son! If its not related to fast cars or movies about fast cars, then its just not news apparently!
|
|
remnantprep
Senior Member
People do not exist for the sake of governments!
Posts: 4,399
Likes: 3,968
Email: remnant@ausprep.org
|
Post by remnantprep on Dec 5, 2013 14:32:13 GMT 10
Does he get like a glazed look in his eyes! And the sighs, dont get me started! Haha I have to do something, I want to say "What is happening now will affect the future you will inherit! Pay attention!"
|
|
beckles
Senior Member
Posts: 218
Likes: 349
|
Post by beckles on Dec 5, 2013 15:49:35 GMT 10
Oh the sighs. and the shoulder shrugs... and the grunts of disinterested acknowledgement...Only saving factor for him at the moment is that he is a 2nd year mechanic apprentice, which may come in handy sometime! Now if I could just get him interested in his Dad's (my Ex) obsession with solar power, I'd be set! Guess I'm going to have to be nice to the Ex instead for a while  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2013 16:49:58 GMT 10
I can't offer much specific advice since I left home when I was 15, but pretty much all the things I did with my parents stuck in my brain and is still there over 25 years later, whereas all the things they told me went in one ear and out the other. It was the doing, not the telling that worked.
Dad had me involved from an early age in things like renovating, building, concreting, bricklaying, hiking, climbing, gardening (food) and keeping animals. Did a heap more gardening (herbs) and cooking and food storing with Mum. Life back then seemed to be never ending chores and parent helping. But, looking back, it was all teaching.
Now the bit I have no clue about is how receptive 17 to 21 year olds are to a parents request for help in doing things? But, if they are maybe just frame it like you need their help with various stuff rather than trying to "convert them to the cause"? They can then learn by observation rather than listening... (hopefully).
|
|
remnantprep
Senior Member
People do not exist for the sake of governments!
Posts: 4,399
Likes: 3,968
Email: remnant@ausprep.org
|
Post by remnantprep on Dec 5, 2013 18:38:00 GMT 10
Good ideas rastus! My son is willing to help out with stuff ! He is the sort of personality though if you tell him to go right he will invariably go left. Seriously, when hubby wants to move furniture and gets his help it is incredibly frustrating for them both. Haha He is a really really nice kid and I am proud of him. He gets himself up for work every morning and his boss says he is his best worker! You just have to go over things a lot with him till he gets it.
|
|
wolfstar
Senior Member
Posts: 1,020
Likes: 917
|
Post by wolfstar on Dec 28, 2013 17:20:32 GMT 10
how about making watching your preferred news mandatory family time, record it if possible, and to keep them engaged, pause, and ask them why they think x is happening, what can be done to help anyone suffering, what we can do to prepare incase it happens? i know that when i was a teen i honestly couldnt have cared less about the news. i was (and still am) a gamer, but that changed when i had kids for some reason. but to get them engaged, make it something you all do together, make them think, and idk, chuck in something to sweeten the deal like icecream or something as a lure the first few times XD
|
|
krisb
Full Member
Posts: 65
Likes: 44
|
Post by krisb on Mar 21, 2014 8:28:48 GMT 10
Ladies you so forgot the rolling of the eyes!!
I am pretty lucky as that my oldest is a very outdoors type of young man and is very much up to date in what is happening in the world and his two teenage sisters follow him and respect him in that way however they all like their mobiles too much, my next boy loves all kind of manual labour, outdoors, fishing the lot, he quite often sits behind me reading these forums as well he is so into it that on Monday this week he went out to start helping..... in 3 days he has earned just under $100 doing mowing, car washing, odd jobs for some of the locals, his goal is to have money to put towards the families camper van that I have been insisting on lately! He also got rid of his mobile as he said it wasted too much time. The next boy could do so much if he put his mind to it and is built like a proverbial brick ----- however he seems to have a lazy footballers attitude at the moment ....... going to start taking him on some of my hikes and try and activate his brain and open up his eyes a bit. My two little girls are just that both like it outdoors so thats a start, I will get them excited about camping and everything.
|
|
