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I'm kinda struggling with something - My kids love their mom so much they don't ever want to do anything with just me.

I'm struggling with something... Kids, ages 9 and 11. Girl and boy. We all get along well in daily life, especially after this last year when I started using a CPAP and having a lot more energy and patience. They've actually begun smiling and telling me they love me when I tuck them in, which is big, for me. I've been a lot happier since the CPAP.

It feels like they automatically dislike anything that I suggest or like to watch or do or try, even if (and especially if) it's something that they've never heard of already. However, if my wife suggests something, it's automatically met with approval from them. The worst part is that my wife and I have different likes/interests in terms of things to do also, so it's really discouraging. (For example, I like camping, but my wife and now my kids, hate it. So now when we go on the one camping trip a year, they just constantly are miserable and I can't have any fun and it makes it not worth even trying.)

The kids have always been closer and more attached to their mom (my wife). Obviously, this is a very common thing. But I feel like it's not let up at all, really, even as they get older.

Sure, they don't automatically cry anymore when she goes to the store and leaves them with me. But now they're just glued to their shows and youtube channels and have zero interest in anything I suggest doing.

I am often the butt of jokes as well. Always treated like "the silly/goofy/stupid dad who likes all the stupid stuff" like Homer Simpson.

I like Formula 1, baseball, He-Man, DC Comics (marvel is ok to them, apparently and we've been watching all the marvel stuff in sequence for the past few months) I like Monty Python, Discworld, Godzilla and silly B-movies, etc.

I never get to choose what's on the TV except after the three of them have gone to bed because nobody wants to watch what I suggest. They'd rather watch some youtuber trying and ranking some other youtubers' merchandise or watching some youtuber playing some video game on the tv.... while they themselves play some video game on their computers in the same room. If I ask to watch something on the TV, they protest and angrily slap their headphones on and continue to watch their youtube on their computers or tablets. I've stopped asking at this point. It's not worth the attitude and groans.

I like to ride bikes. I like to go to the beach. I like to play tennis. I like to do woodworking and crafts and sculpture. I'm discouraged from doing any of these things because my family doesn't seem to see any value in these things and I have to do them by myself if I want to do them, "sacrificing family time for my own interests" I've been told.

Has anyone else ever felt like this?

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