The original plan called for my ex-wife and I to split the cost of a new skateboard for my son’s birthday. Naturally he wasn’t interested in the el-cheapo models. Sadly he got in quite a bit of trouble a month before his birthday and the skateboard idea rolled away. I really wanted him to have the setup he asked for but I had to hold my ground as a father an keep the punishment in place.
When the birthday money started coming in from the family I realized he could afford to buy a decent skateboard if he only thought to use the money for that. Sure enough he put two and two together and realized all he needed was a ride to the skate shop. He asked and I drove. While he didn’t get the one he originally asked for he did get a decent board.
So, what did he get for his birthday? His step-mother and I went in together and bought him Rock Band for the PS2. I knew he would want us all to play together so we bought an extra guitar to go with it. The game is way more fun than I thought it would be. We’ve had a blast with it.
He also got one other thing. When we were coming home with his new board we were talking about what he needed to do to it so it was setup just how he likes. It turned out we didn’t have all of tools needed to assemble, disassemble and modify a skateboard so we stopped at Home Depot and I bought him his own tool set. I’m hoping the tool set will help teach him some responsibility. We’ll see.
It can be a tough age. Mine is soon going to be 17 and he is still a handful…..
positive vibes, Tony