Just back from taking the boy out for another run. It was a cool evening so I pushed him a bit harder. He did a whole mile without stopping and he's ecstatic. He never thought he could do it but what a surprise--he could and did. He just needed a bit of motivation and support.
A little earlier today, I also gave him a lesson in Obamanomics. Careless kid that he is, he left $4.00, the sum total of his worldly cash assets, sitting on my deck while he went down on the driveway to shoot his slingshot. I saw the money lying there and picked it up before a breeze could blow it away. After a bit, I noticed that his marksmanship sucked because he wasn't aiming. I coached him some, and then held up a dollar bill and told him that if he'd slow down and shoot straight, I'd give him one for every hit he made on the target. Well he started shooting straight and quickly snared three dollars before he ran out of rocks and decided to quit. He came up the stairs, counting his money, and then he went to where he'd left his "other money" and the light came on.
"You took my money!" he exclaimed. "You only gave me some of my own money back! And you've still got the rest!"
And thus he learned everything he needs to know about Democrat social programs.
Am I a great uncle, or what?
Now he and my ex-dog are upstairs getting ready for bed. It's quiet and peaceful for a few minutes. Aaaaahhhhh.......
Running's good. Do you have him doing any calisthenics at all? How is he on pushups and situps?
ReplyDeleteNot yet, Bob. Working towards that, but I only get him 1 week out of the year. I did talk to him tonight about him taking Phys Ed as an elective this year. We also talked diet and exercise. Hopefully some of it sinks in.
ReplyDeleteI startled the dog, laughing out loud. It's quiet here in the living room at this hour on Sunday. Great lesson!
ReplyDeletePhy Ed as an elective? Have schools changed that much? When I was his age, phys ed was a required part of the day for everyone.
Agreed with MSgtB...at my HS, PhysEd was required. And usually dreaded. But only for one semester, then you were free and clear.
ReplyDeleteI am a HUGE proponent of the immortal Wrist Rocket. I learned a lot of what I know about ballistics from a folding model I bought at a rummage sale (minus the surgical tubes, the plastic end caps on the 'legs', or the patch) when I was, oh, maybe 11. I got good enough with
ReplyDeleteit to knock
perching birds down and run up and wring their necks. The lowly slingshot is, to me, the best tutor of rock-throwing machines there is. Guns are a propellant version of it, no more.
Cool. Slingshots are the best. As far as Obama Care? Well, did you hold the money he carelessly left behind, then make him rake gravel in your road for it? Did you make him do something for an old person for it? Is Spud, your excellent relative, in Boy Scouts, where he might learn selflessness?
Take him to town and make him hold doors open for the elderly. Come on, man. That's what my churchy mom made me do: if I misbehaved as a small child, she made me stand at the Sears and open doors for town residents. My crazy, insular dad, not so much. But yeah, she would make me go volunteer at nursing homes, sweep the sidewalks on the block(!) and various other 'socialistic' activities.
That said, slingshots are the bomb. Lucky kid.