My husband and son are spending their evenings together at a local skate park. I have been waiting for this to happen since the day my son was born.
Let me explain.
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| Steve's first skateboard park membership + Grady's first night riding |
I've had the privilege of spending hundreds of weekends and afternoons after school with Grady. Sports never figured into our mother-son equation because sports were never my thing. Sure, we would spend hours perusing library shelves or go to the beach to collect smooth rocks and sea glass at low tide, but that was all guided by me and my interests.
Introducing my son to the ins and outs of sports would not be my area of expertise. Not in the least.
Over the years, I've longed for my husband and son to hang out in the yard and play catch or throw a pigskin around (did I just refer to a football as
pigskin?) My husband has a passion for the Los Angeles Dodgers and an appreciation of statistics. I just assumed that when we had our little boy that one day they would be that father and son in the backyard throwing that little white orb back and forth. I'd seen it with my father and my brother. I assumed it would just happen.
It never did.
Or I should say, it rarely did.
You see, my kid isn't a baseball player. He tried. It wasn't his thing. I thought my husband would push him harder and maybe even force the issue.
He never did.
He's not that kind of parent.
And so years have gone by and the only team sport our son seems to really enjoy is soccer. His other interests are reading books and holing up in his art studio to listen to audiobooks and fold origami, build make believe worlds with his Lego collection or draw make believe monsters. He's an only child and he likes being alone.
All that changed on the first day of summer vacation.
Grady unearthed a skateboard that he purchased from the Goodwill last year and asked for us to take him somewhere where he could ride it. You see, we live in the country and have no sidewalks or smooth asphalt on our property or street.
My husband quickly obliged and so began their nightly jaunts to find a place to ride.
The father-son duo decided his Goodwill board was not the best to learn on and so they took a trip to Play It Again Sports and scored a used board with better trucks (Trust me, I had no knowledge of this lingo until this new hobby took hold).
Grady sanded and painted a design on his new-to-him board and off they went find a skate park and break it in. And, as they say, the rest is history.
A few months ago my husband and I were talking about waiting and watching to see what Grady would be interested in next and then following his lead. Instead of us leading him to books, art and sports - we would sit back and pay attention to what interested our son and not interfere too much. Rather, we would wholeheartedly support it.
It didn't take long for us to see his new passion unfolding and that was kind of exciting to us.
His board is near him at all times. He spends hours just sitting on it reading or trying a new stationary trick.
We're watching Tony Hawk videos and packing his board and gear in the back of our cars every time we go into town, you know, just in case we pass a good place to skate.
Steve and Grady have formed a new bond over this little piece of wood and four wheels. They are sharing knowledge, creating memories (falling down quite a bit, too) and making time for one another.
Just like I thought it would be.
Only different.
Only better.
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