FROM DADS:
My daughter and I work out together. We joined the local gym and agreed to spend a couple of hours together every Saturday, talking while side-by-side on the treadmill. I usually offer to buy her a sandwich and Coke at the diner afterwards, and this gives us a chance to talk alone, separate from her younger siblings. She almost always brings up something that is weighing on her mind so I really value our time together.
My sons and I volunteered together for many years at an annual music festival that raised money for the environment. We signed up for the "accessibility committee" which meant that we helped people get around in their wheelchairs. We started this when they were 13 and 11 years old and continued until they went away to college. We really came to look forward to this shared commitment.
S.L., Colorado
I coach his softball team - does that count?
R.H., New Jersey
A friend of ours has two teenage sons and he takes them, individually, on international trips in alternating years. This year he took his younger son to Mexico City to spend a week working with a charity-type project they support. And last year, he took his older son to Africa to visit a missionary friend of theirs. They took up a collection of soccer balls and other donations and brought those along to Malawi for the local people there.
T.M., New York
We sing in the church choir together. We don't get to talk during rehearsal, of course, but the car ride is usually a good opportunity to talk. My wife and our other daughter stay home together so they have that night together every week. It works out.
M.Z., Illinois