Date Ideas for You and Your Teen Son

I read an article recently about the importance of one-to-one time with teenage boys. Boys crave attention from their parents, particularly their Mum.

When my eldest was young, we spent so much time together. 

He was an only child for 10 years, he was very much spoilt, materialistically as well as with my time.

So when siblings arrived, so did a little jealousy. 

Since starting Secondary School and hitting the teenage years, his behaviour and attitude have been difficult. And the majority of the attention he gets from me isn't good attention. 

But I've realised that we need to spend regular one-to-one time together.

He may be 14, but it's important to keep that mother/son bond strong.

It shows them they're important, which boosts their self-esteem. There is no sibling rivalry or fighting for attention, for a short time you're all theirs! It gives the opportunity for them to open up if they need to.

Here are a few Date Ideas for You and Your Teen Son:

1.  Ice Cream Date

All kids love ice cream right? Whatever their age.

Head out to an ice cream bar and chat over waffles and chocolate sauce!

Let conversation flow naturally.

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2. Movie Marathon

Let them choose a couple of films, or even better, choose one each for the ultimate compromise! 

Remember not to talk about chores, their bad grades or behaviour, just enjoy each others company.

3. An Adventurous Road Trip

Pick a place on a map, within reason. Or head to the train station and buy a ticket to a destination on the board and go exploring. It's fun, it's different and there will be something for children of all ages to do. It makes for some fantastic Insta material, which most teenagers love!! 

We've done something like this a few years ago, we called it Magical Mystery Day. 

I think I'm going to have to re-name it something a bit more grown up nowadays, maybe an Insta Adventure!!

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4.  Visit the Theatre

My 14-year-old and I recently headed to the Curve Theatre for a theatre date! 

We saw Mischief Movie Night - a completely improvised movie live on stage, produced by the Mischief Theatre; the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong, which I'd heard so many good things about, so I was really looking forward to it. 

The idea behind this quirky, cleverly thought out show is for the team of 8 actors, headed by producer Jonathan Sayer, to create a completely improvised movie, based on the audience's choice of genre. 

After shouting out a few genre and topic ideas, it was decided that our movie would be a sci-fi / romantic comedy ensemble, featuring... dinosaurs! And after a member of the audience aptly named the movie 'Mars, Actually' (I know right, legend!! ;) ), the actors got to work on stage. 

From start to finish, both myself and Bradley were giggling away. There were moments I couldn't catch my breath, it was a hilariously brilliant show complete with brilliantly timed directors cuts, rewinds, playbacks and more from director / narrator Jonathon who would stop the movie abruptly, shouting 'PAUSE!' at the most perfect moments, which Bradley found fantastic! 

The mixture of comedy, improvised acting and musical aspects all tied in beautifully and was so cleverly done! 

It was most definitely the FUNNIEST theatre show I have ever seen and made for the perfect date night with my teenage son! He wanted to book tickets for the rest of the week! And with a different show each night, I'm confident every night would have been fantastic.

We'll definitely be making the theatre a regular location for our date nights, and checking out the Curve Theatre for more fantastic shows for us to enjoy together. 

The teenage years can be difficult, for both of you.

It's so important to create new memories together and keep the lines of communication open.

Do you have any ideas for Mum / Son date night to share?

*Theatre tickets gifted to us by the Curve for the purpose of this post