Finally got 8yo interested in something besides YouTube
This might sound dumb but I'm genuinely excited. My son has been glued to screens for like a year and my wife and I were getting worried. Last month I bought him a beginner's rock climbing wall for the garage (nothing fancy, just one of those $300 ones from REI). Figured he wouldn't care but he's been on that thing literally every day after school. He's even asking if we can get a gym membership. It's giving me actual hope that we broke through the screen addiction. Taking a small W here.
This is genuinely one of the best dad wins I've seen. The fact that he went from "YouTube only" to something physical that takes actual skill and effort? That's huge. How many times a week is he climbing?
My kid did the same thing with a skateboard. Not the expensive kind, just a $60 one from Target. Best money we spent. He's still into it 6 months later which for an 8yo is basically forever lol.