Mama Mia! Look At Christa! [Krees-ta]

I hope you read that title with the Spanish accent of my high school ballet teacher as I intended. Otherwise, go back and do it again.

Anyway, I am wondering if this could be an alternative mode of transportation for me? We've been watching the snow and ice melt for days, which has been fascinating, but at last we have reached dry pavement so the skateboard fun can began. Wow! These things can roll! Who knew all these years my embarrassing skateboard abilities had to do with equipment, not skills!

It begins with the equipment.

On a cold, snowy afternoon, we took the boys to our downtown skateboard shop to purchase their birthday gifts. As we waited for literally hours as the boys choose components and the boards were assembled, the clerk casually mentioned that skateboarding is the fastest growing sport in America.

Could this be? I think of skateboarding as popular for artsy, punk loner types who graffiti our garage in their spare time. But sure enough, I looked it up online and skateboarding is the third most popular sport right behind football and basketball.

This fact seemed to crystallize my journey into that skateboard shop.

This skateboard purchase was not one taken lightly. Yes, my neighbor warned me skateboards can be the cause of many broken bones, but even that was not my worry. This was my worry - suddenly, this past January, Marek turned EIGHT! GASP! For me, this is the magical number. This is the age when all activities can be easily learned, yet maturity has been reached so the motivation comes from the learner, not the learner's parent. It was time to reflect on - are Geoff and I doing enough to educate and expose our children to life? Are we doing too much?

I do like to compare my own childhood when I ponder the state of our children's lives. Like soccer for example. Well, bad example. Living in the Midwest a long time ago, soccer was nonexistent. But let's transpose that to football. Kids did not learn to play football at age three at a football lesson forty years ago. Instead we hung around our neighborhood (without our parents lurking nearby), until we got bored of calling each other names and organized a game of football or basketball or tetherball. This is how we developed our skill level. By the time we approached real competitive playing in Junior High, we were semi coordinated and knew the gist of the game, and it was obtained with no cost of time or money from our parents.

Does this happen anywhere anymore? Because in my experience everyone is so busy open enrolling their youth and then driving them around to after school activities it is hard for homework to even be completed much rather time for name calling and then the casual games.

Am I just lazy that I don't want to do this? Or will free time allow hobbies and interests to emerge from my kids that might not otherwise?

After much reflection, I think Geoff and I are doing all right for the kids. And here's the truth. I just have a hard time taking my kids seriously even if one is now eight years old. I love my kids, but they are just kids. And if they choose to become the next Tony Hawk or Albert Einstein, that will be from their perseverance and passion - not because I've done much of anything.

So. Let's get back to the skateboard.

After pondering the lack of free youth to play with and the Legos overflowing our household, it seems a simple skateboard was the gift of a lifetime. This is a gift that can be learned and mastered in our backyard at any time all alone. Given the statistics, I guess I'm not alone in coming to this conclusion.

And as I said before, "Wow! These things can roll!"


DISCLAIMER: All Newton children up to now have been provided with swim lesson so they don't drown, soccer lessons so they are not afraid of balls coming at them like their mother, and various free after school programs.