ds trip-pooper | Imamother

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Teenagers and Older children

Ds trip-pooper

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amother

Mon, Jul 28 2008, 5:08 pm

ds not yet teenager but acts as such!
OMG EVERY time my ds comes home from daycamp with a trip note
which is supposed to be so exciting and something to look forward to...
its a NITEMARE!
he immediately does NOT want to go.
he kvetches that hates to travel (even on coach buses)
he says it'll be boring (rafting, bbq etc. FUN!)
when we talk him into it, he DOES have a GR8 time!
water parks remind him about that one mishap where child drowned
other trips remind him of once when he threw up ETC ETC
its not like he'll have a blast at home playing all day. when he gets
a day off it includes davening in minyan, learning, helping out...

I CANT TAKE IT! I want him to ENJOY! but I cant FORCE a big boy to go on trip!
any suggestions??
What can I do to take the edge off his anxiety?
(otherwise he loves camp, has freinds, etc)

mummiedearest

Mon, Jul 28 2008, 5:47 pm

actually, you CAN force him to go. tell him that next year if he doesn't want to go to camp, he will have xyz chores to do everyday, no friends to hang out with as they will all be in camp, and no opportunity to go on trips. but for now he is in camp, and you don't want to hear any more complaints.

ChutzPAh

Mon, Jul 28 2008, 7:21 pm

When I saw this thread title under the heading "teenagers", I thought it was a thread about your teenage son who had an accident with #2 on a trip. You see, I guess the situation can be worse.

amother

Mon, Jul 28 2008, 8:19 pm

OP here

LOL LOL

chutzpah that made me really laugh! I revised party-pooper!
I decided to NOT get MAD.
It's summertime.
Camp is supposed to be fun.
If ds's idea of fun is 'not to have fun'... so be it.
Not worth my aggravation.

Thanks for the input mommiedearest, I feel kinda soft...
I almost adopted your iron-hand, but then dh said ds can skip trip Confused

NotInNJMommy

Mon, Jul 28 2008, 8:39 pm

Does he really stage a protest about the trips, or does he just complain but goes along anyways (and then enjoys himself it seems)?

If he's just kvetching, just respond by "hmmm..." "oh." "I see..." or state obvious things like "I've see you've been thinking about this a lot". He might just be looking to be heard, and when he gets the kvetch out, and he's heard, then he'll tone it down. If it's just kvetching, arguing with him might just make him feel ignored.

If he's having a sit-in come trip-morning, then yes, you should be frank and get him on that bus and be real about what next summer might very likely look like if he's so miserable about trips now.

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