During your son or daughter’s adolescent teething stage it’s often difficult to recognize the once brightly-eyed smiling child who would happily hold your hand through the supermarket aisles. Instead what you often find yourself acquainted with is a stony glare every time that you yell, ‘Michael, tea’s ready’ and what’s worse is you now have to take the little darlings on a ski holiday.
However, rather than await the family ski holiday with a sense of dread, there are a number of ways to get around your teenagers’ Dracula alter-ego in time for the slopes.
Let them have their independence
It might be hard to admit, but little Timmy and Rosie are growing up. Give your teenagers some independence on holiday and they will respect you for it. If you’re staying in a resort such as La Plagne, there will be plenty of other teenagers around that yours will want to mix with. Let them enjoy themselves for a few hours per evening as this is when you’ll be feeling tired from the day and have low energy. Also, if you’ve got younger children to care for too, you’ll be glad of the break.
Teenagers love privacy, if you’ve got the money, another option could be to allow your teenagers to have their own ski chalet where they can rest and relax. This doesn’t limit you from spending quality time with your teenagers as you’ll be together all-day, every day on the slopes but instead gives both parties the chance to have a little ‘me’ time.
Take them to the centre of adventure
Perhaps you are reaching a point in your life where the most excitement you crave is edgy banter with a ski instructor, but think back to when you were a youngster – teens want to be at the centre of everything.
The fact you are taking your kids on a ski holiday goes some way to providing that sense of energy and fun that is so vital at their age. Try to identify their needs when booking accommodation to make sure the night time entertainment and amenities meet their high standards.
Get them involved in the holiday plan
Perhaps one of the worst things you can do with a sullen teenager is to leave them out. If you allow them to play a part in the planning process they will be much more keen to get on board with family based activities than if they don’t have a clue what’s going on. Obviously everyone has individual tastes and preferences but if there are family activities you can do based on their interests such as cinema or snowboarding then you are onto a winner.
