Feeling like you don't know the rules is exactly the kind of impediment that can keep you from joining in . . .
This is very true.
I dn't remember whether Ace and Rascal are boys are girls. I'd be curious to know whether Hawaii's concern about knowing the rules seemed gendered, something you see in all your kids, or whether Hawaii is particularly concerned with getting the rules right.
2 -- oh, sure, as if the reverse sexist assholes at National Girls and Women in Sports Day would ever lift a finger to help a boy.
Ace (2) is a girl, rascal (1) is a boy. Pokey (5) isalso concerned with getting the rules straight, but he's much more assertive about wanting to know the rules of sports than Hawaii is. Hawaii is assertive in general but not particularly concerned with sports.
I don't have a child, but this strikes me as very good parenting, heebie.
Thanks! It was easy, we just dropped her off.
That's really cool! Also easier and probably better than the sports involvement I've done, which involves taking them to a track in the August heat and pressuring them into four Junior Olympics events!
I'm not sure why, but this reminds me of a story my dad likes to tell about me from my toddlerhood.
My mom and dad bought me Raffi videos when I was a toddler. In case you don't know who Raffi is, he's a children's singer that had lots of concerts that you could buy videos of. The songs were pretty simple and were made to get kids to kind of participate with call-and-response type stuff.
Anyway, according to my dad, I would just sit in front of the television like a vegetable not responding to anything every time he put these on. After weeks (maybe months, I don't know) of this, my dad figured that maybe I was just dumb or something and that's why I wouldn't play along and participate. I could already basically talk and stuff, so he didn't see any reason I shouldn't be able to sing along or respond to the Raffi stuff.
The one day, he put the tape on for me to watch and I had apparently memorized the whole thing, including Raffi's little monologues between songs and I pretty much carried out the whole tape along with Raffi (minus the guitar of course). So apparently I just wanted to wait until I could be absolutely certain that I could do the whole thing right before I tried.
In many ways, I feel like I'm still this kind of person -- very risk averse and somewhat cautious about trying new things until I'm sure I can do them right. It's basically harmful, and if I ever have kids I hope that I'll do a good job of encouraging them to make mistakes and not feel too badly about it but understand it's part of the process of learning. Which I guess is why this strikes me as good parenting. It just seems like you've really thought about seeing the world through your kids' eyes, and that's something that seems to be very hard to do.
9:
Srsly tho as a person in my mid 20s, one of my favorite things about Unfogged is seeing people in their 30s and 40s talk about the seemingly bland parts of life. Things like how to be a good husband, parent, and child of aging parents weigh really heavily on my mind and it makes me feel a lot better and more confident when I see people who are bit older than I am talking about these things on this blog.
I can totally relate to 8. I was a quick study as a small kid, but getting it right was always the important thing- not being super competitive, I didn't much care if the other kids got it right too or not. But if I couldn't grasp how things worked, whether socially, artistically or mechanically, I lost interest after a short time.
They did rock-climbing, track, soccer, cheer-leading, rugby, volleyball and golf. I wish basketball had been included, instead of having so many that she's unlikely to encounter at school. But she had fun and I'm okay with it.
10: I'm slightly older than you, but seconded. Good crib notes from more experienced smart people.
Some of us old folk here hope to serve as a horrible warning.
Some of us old folk here hope to serve as a horrible warning.
Don't be like peep. Don't try to fly too close to the sun.
The 47 year old bald guy in the basement is horrified to discover he has become a role model.
Or maybe build your wings out of something less melty.
I am not a role model for how to take care of aging parents, Trivers. I tried to do too much. but your parents are unlikely to be as difficult as mine.