As a father of four, three of which are young teens, finding, deciding and negotiating activities for all three to participate in together has been a real strain on not only my creative side but also on my negotiation skills.

I have had conversations with many other fathers as well; this is clearly a common issue for many fathers...”what can I do with my children?” they are always saying “I’m bored” or “what can we do now?”...
I have found it’s not so much the ‘what’, but the how to come to a compromise that requires more effort and energy on my part. If my children had their way every time, we would spend close to $100 going to the movies, then a further $20 playing video games, then another $30 - $40 on takeaways. Not only is it expensive for me, it also offers no quality or creative time for me. If I got my way every time, the kids and I would be mowing the lawns, taking walks, and on wet days, playing games or watching a DVD with toasted sandwiches all for the hire of a DVD. Then I have issues with each of my children wanting to all different things, and then it comes down to a majority vote, leaving one out and having to bend to the others, or just doing their own thing.

No anymore! A friend of Andrea’s told us about ‘Spin the Wheel’ on a wheel put each of the (practical) activities that the kids and you like to do, ensure there is a balance of activities from each of the kids, for example four different activities each and only one of which that may have a cost, add your activities and maybe make one of them a special event like dinner out.

Each child including yourself has a turn at spinning the wheel, and whatever it lands on that is the activity you are doing (if practical). The beauty is because everyone has contributed there is already buy in from everyone, and my favourite, change the activities on a regular basis, for example for each session.

Have fun with it dads, ‘Spin the Wheel’ could be the next big thing at every parents home

- Eric

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