Planning time with Teen

[Ratatouille]

I found a way to involve my teen in activities! OK, this may seem lame or redundant to some of you, but I am sure there are some parents of teens out there who may find this useful. I made a colour coded spreadsheet of our vacation. The first column on the left has times and the top row each port. Each activity was colour coded (optional, mandatory, port times, etc) and this seemed to help A LOT to show DS that he WILL have free time on board away from the old folks ;) I even put in dinner times with a note that "times may vary". Each child gets to pick a specialty restaurant.

[quincytoo]

I found a way to involve my teen in activities! OK, this may seem lame or redundant to some of you, but I am sure there are some parents of teens out there who may find this useful. I made a colour coded spreadsheet of our vacation. The first column on the left has times and the top row each port. Each activity was colour coded (optional, mandatory, port times, etc) and this seemed to help A LOT to show DS that he WILL have free time on board away from the old folks ;) I even put in dinner times with a note that "times may vary". Each child gets to pick a specialty restaurant.

 

Whata great idea :) I am going to try this

 

Thanks you :)

[Ratatouille]

You're welcome!

 

In the time column the last time is 1:00 AM because this was the official curfew time on our last cruise Royal Caribbean. I tried to keep a straight face when DS asked if NCL also had a curfew time. ;)

[mousey]

That sounds great. We have a 13 yr DS (only child). We have sailed with him many times so he knows all our rules and what's expected of him. On the ship he's pretty much on his own (with a walkie-talkie to keep in touch every now and then). Dinners we eat together as a family. After dinner he can do whatever he wants as long as he's back in our room by 1am. He has never been allowed (nor will he be until he is about 18) to go onshore alone. We do all our shore excursions together, and make decisions during the planning stages as to what ones we'll do. Everyone has a say about excursions. Each person gets to do one favorite excursion of their choice. We have always had a great time, and have never had any issues with the DS not following our family rules about what's okay and what's off limits. Its important to make your family rules clear before you sail.:D