As a father, watching your son grow from a tiny baby into an adolescent will likely be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. You were there for his first steps, his first words and his first day of school. Now those early moments in fatherhood have led your teen to develop a personality and intellect all his own.
While the joys of seeing a child mature into a teenager are plentiful, this can also be a trying time. In establishing their own sense of identity, many adolescents pull away from their parents – weakening the bond that had always been so strong during earlier childhood days. As a result, you may have to make the extra effort to connect to your boy on a whole new level.
So how does a dad go about this? Well, for starters, if your son is developing an interest in a particular sport, make it your interest as well. Watching football together or scoring tickets to an upcoming baseball game is a great way to spend quality time together. Heck, you may even want to take up an assistant coaching position if your kid is looking to join a local or school athletics program. Even if you've never played the sport before, you can help him warm up and practice fundamentals before a big game.
Men love red meat, there's no getting around it. While many women often say that a man's stomach is the way to his heart, dad's can take advantage of this mantra to help bond with their sons as well. Consider taking your son out to one of your favorite restaurants or local watering holes to bond over burgers, steaks, hot wings, hot dogs, seafood or whatever other manly culinary creations strike your fancy. While you're chowing down, you can swap stories about your own childhood and get to know what's really going on in your son's life.
How you connect to your teenage son depends largely on his own personality. The important part is that you're there for him and make an effort to share his interests.