Barrister's obnoxious thread full of smug parenting stories

[Grey Fox]

My son will run towards me, barely slowing down while avoiding colliding with me yelling "Daddy, I love you".

[crazy canuck]

Some of my favourite memories are of coming home at the end of a long day and the boys running out of the house to meet me yelling "Daddy Daddy Daddy" and then giving me big hugs.

[Syt]

Before he had to go to early retirement, I knew not to bother my father when he came home from another work day, because he'd have a bite, plop down in front of the TV and pretty much immediately go to sleep.

Later I knew not to bother him, because he had constant back pain and was either wound like a spring or zoned out on pain killers.

[PRC]

Some of my favourite memories are of coming home at the end of a long day and the boys running out of the house to meet me yelling "Daddy Daddy Daddy" and then giving me big hugs.

It has been said that no one knows what it's like to be a parent until you become one.    I used to scoff at that, thinking i'd watched enough Full House reruns to get the jist of it.  But upon becoming a parent myself this experience is the one that I never knew a person could have... that someone (other than a dog) could be so overjoyed and unabashedly happy to see you. 

[Barrister]

So bath night is always a big hit around our house.  But the last month or two they've put a new spin on bath-night rituals.

As soon as I start running the bath they all immediately strip out of their clothes and then go running around the living room yelling "naked boys! naked boys!" and generally acting like fools.

I just shake my head.

[Barrister]

So tonight before supper I take my boys outside to the front yard.  Timmy skoots around on his bike (with training wheels).  He sees that a boy from across the street, probably younger than he is, is riding his bike without training wheels.  So he says "maybe I could try without training wheels".

I know to strike while the iron is hot.  Those wheels are off in under a minute.  Timmy is a little nervous - I tell him I'll hold him to start.

Well I held that bike for like 2 seconds and he was off.  He took to riding a bike like a champ.

Hell, after supper he wanted to ride his bike, so I took his brothers in the stroller, and Timmy on his bike, for a good hour and a half walk / bike ride.  Until near the end when he got tired, Tim was usually quite a distance ahead of us.

I dunno - there's lots of life milestones you see as a parent.  But somehow the "no training wheels" one is really hitting me.

[Josephus]

So tonight before supper I take my boys outside to the front yard.  Timmy skoots around on his bike (with training wheels).  He sees that a boy from across the street, probably younger than he is, is riding his bike without training wheels.  So he says "maybe I could try without training wheels".

I know to strike while the iron is hot.  Those wheels are off in under a minute.  Timmy is a little nervous - I tell him I'll hold him to start.

Well I held that bike for like 2 seconds and he was off.  He took to riding a bike like a champ.

Hell, after supper he wanted to ride his bike, so I took his brothers in the stroller, and Timmy on his bike, for a good hour and a half walk / bike ride.  Until near the end when he got tired, Tim was usually quite a distance ahead of us.

I dunno - there's lots of life milestones you see as a parent.  But somehow the "no training wheels" one is really hitting me.

there will be plenty more, Beeb. Enjoy them them. 

[derspiess]

Awesome, Beeb

[PRC]

So tonight before supper I take my boys outside to the front yard.  Timmy skoots around on his bike (with training wheels).  He sees that a boy from across the street, probably younger than he is, is riding his bike without training wheels.  So he says "maybe I could try without training wheels".

I know to strike while the iron is hot.  Those wheels are off in under a minute.  Timmy is a little nervous - I tell him I'll hold him to start.

Well I held that bike for like 2 seconds and he was off.  He took to riding a bike like a champ.

Hell, after supper he wanted to ride his bike, so I took his brothers in the stroller, and Timmy on his bike, for a good hour and a half walk / bike ride.  Until near the end when he got tired, Tim was usually quite a distance ahead of us.

I dunno - there's lots of life milestones you see as a parent.  But somehow the "no training wheels" one is really hitting me.

Great story!  Did you have him on a balance bike or anything like that before the pedal bike?

[Barrister]

Great story!  Did you have him on a balance bike or anything like that before the pedal bike?

I didn't know the term "balance bike", but I looked it up and yes - he's had one for a couple years.  I'm sure it helped.

[crazy canuck]

So tonight before supper I take my boys outside to the front yard.  Timmy skoots around on his bike (with training wheels).  He sees that a boy from across the street, probably younger than he is, is riding his bike without training wheels.  So he says "maybe I could try without training wheels".

I know to strike while the iron is hot.  Those wheels are off in under a minute.  Timmy is a little nervous - I tell him I'll hold him to start.

Well I held that bike for like 2 seconds and he was off.  He took to riding a bike like a champ.

Hell, after supper he wanted to ride his bike, so I took his brothers in the stroller, and Timmy on his bike, for a good hour and a half walk / bike ride.  Until near the end when he got tired, Tim was usually quite a distance ahead of us.

I dunno - there's lots of life milestones you see as a parent.  But somehow the "no training wheels" one is really hitting me.

Those are one of those moments you will not forget.  For me, J decided he wanted his training wheels off so I got the tools from the shed and he helped me take them off.  I then took the tools back to the shed and brought the video camera to record his first moments riding unaided.   Only to discover that he decided it would be a good idea to get on the bike himself and start riding around. 

[Barrister]

So Timothy is signed up for outdoor soccer again this summer.  He played last year on a U6 team, but at 4 going on 5 he was strangely apprehensive about the ball.  I don't believe he scored a single goal all season.

Over the winter we had him signed up for indoor soccer at the local Y.  No formal team or anything, they just play a bunch of games involving soccer balls for 45 minutes on a Saturday.

So now in his second season of outdoor soccer.  He's now 5 going on 6, one of the older kids on his team.  His first night on Monday he was a way different kid from last year.  He was right in the middle of all the action, and scored his first outdoor soccer goal.  He was so proud.

Then his second game was on Wednesday.  And he... blew the place up.  It was like he was scoring at will.  He scored 6 goals, including 4 on one shift.  You're not supposed to keep score, but in my head I had a final score of 7-2, which meant Timothy scored 2/3 of all the goals scored.  And again he was super proud of himself.

I was just shocked.  This was just one game with a bunch of kindergarteners and under, but still I never would have expected it.  He's my kid, after all.

If this is some kind of new normal I'm going to have to start talking to him about good sportsmanship and making sure to pass the ball, but for one night I was just going to let him enjoy being a good soccer player.

[Ed Anger]

Sportsmanship is overrated. Tears are good teacher.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm going to have to start talking to him about good sportsmanship and making sure to pass the ball,

Great.  Setting him up for failure.  Way to go.

[Barrister]

Yup.  Three more soccer games, and Timmy hasn't failed to score less than six goals per game.  Last night his team won 8-4, with Timmy scoring 7 of his team's goals.

I'm starting to get those over-involved and hyper-competitive sports parents.  It makes me strangely proud to see him score all those goals, even though I had nothing whatsoever to do with it.