Father Son Time

This week I have been trying to engage in morning conversations with my oldest son, Dominick. He is the one that I struggle with the most because I don't know how to communicate with him. I can't let that be a barrier any longer.

Dominick is ten years old (eleven this December) and he is quite different than me when I was ten. He enjoys soccer, reading, video games and time spent with his best friend, Nate. Occasionally, we'll throw a ball together, other than that, we don't do much together. I decided to have some casual conversations with him this week just to find out what is on his mind. Of course, school is the main thing of concern. He is always very nervous at the beginning of a school year (what kid isn't), but after he is there for a couple of days, he is the king of his world.

This past weekend, I decided to go for a mountain bike ride and invited him to go with me. He immediately hesitated because he thinks with his head more than his heart. He evaluates everything and computes danger levels in his head. His heart doesn't even have a chance. The trail is a four mile intermediate trail. A lot of switchbacks, a couple of climbs, and a lot of exposed roots. Nothing too serious. I talked him into doing two miles and then we would turn back if he wasn't comfortable. He made it about a mile and a half into it and he was "Done". He worked his little ass off. He wrecked once and ran into one tree. We turned around and took a couple of short cuts to get back to the parking lot. All together, he did a little over two miles. I was very proud of his efforts, but more than that, I was proud that he followed his heart and he trusted me enough to take a chance and try something new. It was a lesson in patience for me and it gave me the opportunity to affirm him in something that I know we can both enjoy doing together. Now I just have talk him into going again.