At times I feel like its a battle: Parents versus teens.

Yesterday, my son had a friend over. Nice boy.

My son had been gaming for a while already.

Then, when his friend came over, they wanted to log on and play some more.

And so the battle began.

“Guys, why don’t you go outside and play basketball?

“Guys, go to the park. How about it?”

“Boys, boys, boys! I really want you to get outside. It’s a beautiful day.”

“No, no, no!” they offered.

Huffing and puffing. Unhappy looks. They had one thing on their minds ā€” gaming.

I almost broke. Then I remembered I was the parent and I didn’t care so much

what they thought of me. I stated with certainty that they should play.

So they went outside for a few moments and played basketball.

They didn’t look happy. They talked in the living room for a while.

They slumped their shoulders and moped around the house.

Then, an unusual thing happened. I gave them a task.

“Crash some soda cans for me,” I said.

“Soda cans?” they asked.

“I’ll pay you!”

Well, before I knew it, the boys were smashing cans and loving it.

The boys made quick work of the cans. The stage was set for more chores.

Would my pocketbook last? God knows there were plenty of things around the house to do.