This is a list of items that you should do with your kids today. I stress the need to do these things now because in the not so distant future your kids will most likely not want to talk to you let alone do any of the following activities. It’s not an all inclusive list, I am sure many of you have activities that are specific to your families, but some of these are pretty common across the board. Here it is:

1. Let the kids stay up late to catch lightning bugs. If you want the deluxe version of lightning bug catching, have them go at it with bare feet and pajama bottoms. A thin coat of bug spray is recommended. To keep them mentally/ physically sharp feed them roasted marshmallows intermittently throughout the evening.

2. Come home from work and regardless of how horrible your day was immediately ask your kids if they want to toss a baseball around. The key is to initiate contact. If they ask you first then it’s too late, the impact will not be as profound. This is really just parental slight of hand; a way of subliminally suggesting that you have been impatiently waiting to rush home and join them in one of their favorite activities because you think it’s way cool too. This simple act will resonate with them for years to come.

3. Sit your boys down and spend a spring morning organizing your tackle box and untangling your fishing reels from the previous summer; to do this effectively fail to recall who tangled the reels in the first place.

4. Let your boys crack the eggs for the morning omelets; remove the shell fragments when they’re not looking. Put a handful of chocolate chips in their pancakes to sweeten the deal.

5. Take them out for ice cream after dinner even if they didn’t finish the main course.

6. Lose your honey-do list, make some popcorn and snuggle with your kids on the couch and spend the morning watching something they enjoy.

7. Let them pick out the cereal next time you go to the grocery store, even if it is Lucky Charms and the only reason they want it is for the cheap toy at the bottom of the box.

8. Take them to the toy store “just to look”.

9. Fill up the inflatable pool in the backyard and engage in squirt gun warfare for an afternoon; grass will grow again, your kids only do so once.

10. Hold your child’s hand even if you’re not in a parking lot or crossing the street, eventually they will become too old/self conscious to do so willingly.

11. Put a band-aid on every Boo Boo even if it’s just hurt feelings. Band-aides are cheap but when you’re five a band-aid validates what you’re feeling (sometimes life is painful), besides band-aids fix everything.

12. Prove to your kids that you’re the strongest human being on the planet by wrestling all of them at the same time using only one arm to defend yourself.

13. Let your kids dress themselves when you’re about to go out in public and don’t make them modify what they put on. For example, Mack wore his red suede cowboy hat w/ purple ostrich plume (pimp hat) and camouflage Crocs when we went shopping at the Post Exchange; Cayden normally dresses like Jack Sparrow for our shopping excursions.

14. Ask your kids what there favorite toy is, and then attempt to build it with home improvement leftovers you have laying around the garage. My kids and I have built robots, toy guns, and an unusually awkward looking skateboard ramp; it’s not the product but the process that gets the most enjoyment.

15. Find a Secret Sunday morning place that only you and your kids know about. My boys and I have a favorite coffee shop that we go to when we are out doing man-things. Our secret place provides the perfect venue for discussing serious thought provoking issues such as the state of the economy, football and what species of creature Poki-Mon really is (for the record I voted for Koala-Bear) Connie doesn’t know where we go so please keep this one a secret.

16. Demonstrate to your boys how to shave, the power of deodorant and the exhilarating feel of Aqua-Velva on freshly scraped skin.

17. Let your kids drive a screw with your prized cordless drill; don’t openly weep when they accidentally drop it on the garage floor.

18. Get matching tattoos while playing high-dollar slots when Mom is out of town. (got you Pammy). For the record I would never let my boys play slots, craps has a higher pay-off.

Send me your thoughts on those things that you consider must-do’s before your kids hit the “I hate my Parents” teen age years. I am interested in knowing if I missed any good ones.