Bonding with a ball hog
This weekend marked my son, E’s (not his actual name) second birthday. It’s amazing how much he’s grown since we brought him home all bundled up in blankets like a baby burrito.
I know kids grow up and this process might not be all that amazing to anyone outside our family, but when it’s your own kid, you can’t help but marvel!
Wow, did he just do that?
I think the main reason we are constantly amazed is because we can’t help but remember him as a helpless baby, a period of time which seemed to last so long that we thought it would last forever.
Forever isn’t as long as it used to be, though.
These days he runs around, says lots of words and amazes us with new phrases every day.
This weekend, was E’s weekend to shine. He had a Cars-themed birthday which my wife did an awesome job setting up. Our friend Suzanne baked a cool Cars cake. E got to see lots of friends and family, play with a bunch of children and stuff his face full of so much Cars cake that it turned his poop blue!
As for the drawing I made for him, he liked it. However, he seemed to think he could improve on it, as he reached for his crayons before we were able to stop him and explain it wasn’t to color. So, he dropped it on the ground.
At least he didn’t throw it away.
The gift that keeps on giving
My wife and I bought E an adjustable standup basketball hoop which we set up in the living room. He was thrilled when he saw me unpacking the box it came in.
A few weeks ago E and I had gone to an indoor playground for kids and we spent a bulk of our time in the Ball Zone, a room full of bouncy balls and hoops and holes all over the place! E loved it! Even more, he loved watching me sink shots repeatedly. He kept bringing me balls and saying, “again” and smiled this huge grin like he was either proud or amazed at my shooting ability.
Tonight, we got to play basketball at home. After he sank the first shot, he grabbed the ball and approached the basket and turned to me to ask, “again?” as if he felt he needed permission. He clearly is not used to having a basketball hoop in his home, to play anytime he wishes!
I don’t know how well most two year olds throw a ball, but E is awesome! He has good form in shots where he uses both hands – and get this – uses one hand! He even grabbed bounce passes I made to him!
He’s a baller!
The only sort of dribbling he knows right now is milk down his chin. But if ball throwing skills are any indicator of how good he can be at basketball, I look forward to watching him progress.
But the coolest part of all this is that we got to bond over an activity that we can both enjoy together.
Basketball isn’t just fun, though. It’s a great way to show E important lessons such as teamwork and sharing – concepts he has trouble with. Whenever other kids are at our house, E is reluctant to share his toys. He’ll say things like, “mine” and whine and grab his toys back. Typical kid behavior, but you don’t like to see your kid doing it.
So tonight, when the ball bounced to me, I said, “daddy’s turn” and I took a shot. Then I gave the ball to him and said, “E’s turn”, telling him how we take turns shooting the ball. Eventually, he was bringing the ball to me and saying, “daddy’s turn”. Then, when he wanted the ball, he would say his name or “E’s turn”.
Given that he just started saying his name recently, he still says it in kidspeak. The cuteness of it all nearly broke my heart. Hell, I’m tearing up now as I write this!
Towards the end of our playtime, daddy’s turns became less frequent as E’s turns increased. He sank 10 shots in a short period of time. My kid’s a ball hog! It’s still early in the learning to share process, but hey, if he continues sinking shots like Dwayne Wade, E can have a few of daddy’s turns every now and then.
What sorts of activities do you enjoy bonding over with your children?
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13 Responses to “Bonding with a ball hog”
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Another beautiful tale Dave.
Time to say goodbye to your ornaments, precious valuables and all other things valuable inside your home. Not only is E now two years old you’ve also given him a ball…
I wreaked havoc with a balloon, I can only imagine what destruction will be had with a ball
That is awesome that you and E have something to connect with together. He’ll always have a fondness for the game I bet because of the time you are taking to foster it.
I really liked the line about forever not being as long as it used to be. True that.
With my children, I love playing anything imaginary, writing, drawing and lots of word games. We also love Uno, board games and the old school Sega Dreamcast.
Writer Dads last blog post..April
Bud plays ball with my husband. He could throw it back and forth as soon as three or four months ago (he just turned a year last week). I was amazed. His new thing is to go get a picture book off of the shelf and bring it to you. He points at the pictures and waits for you to tell him what it is. It is so sweet. I’m hoping that he’ll have a love of reading like his momma.
Jennifers last blog post..Happy Birthday
We all love the outdoors– camping, hiking, etc. That’s probably the major “bonding activity” we do as a family.
GreenJellos last blog post..Recipe: Amazing Steel Cut Oats
My son had the same food coloring issue after his second birthday party. I was briefly alarmed until I watched him eating cake on the video and recalled how colorful it was.
feefifotos last blog post..Anyone Want A Cute Dog, Cheap? Fine, But You’ll Have To Catch Her First
Marc – Thanks! And yes, I need to go remove all the breakables from high places.
Writer Dad – Thanks. It’s fun to be able to do stuff that resembles actual activities I’m used to.
Jennifer – Bud sounds a lot like E at that age. Actually, I think E was just shy of one when he got his first ball last Easter. As for the books, I’m sure if you keep doing what you’re doing, he will grow to love them.
GreenJello – That’s cool. E loves the outdoors, too. I’m looking forward to taking him more places as he gets older.
feefifoto – Yeah, colorful poo is always a shock the first time you see it!
Neat post and thank your for sharing – our house it is bike riding…another neat thing to share…bravo!
Patricias last blog post..A Different Journey
Great to hear that E is into ball sports. Both of my children have benefitted physically and socially from playing everything from basketball to soccer to baseball.
As for bonding activities, I must mention one that took place this week with my 10-year-old daughter, Katie. We live about 2 miles from train tracks. At 4pm most days we can faintly hear the whistle as the train passes by. The other night we were just hanging out and hubby said, “I know, let’s go put pennies on the tracks,” something we’ve never done before. So we grabbed a couple of pennies and drove to the tracks. With great enthusiasm, Katie strategically laid our pennies and marked their location with little sticks.
The next day when 4pm came, Jim, Katie and I sat listening for the train’s whistle. As soon as we heard it, we raced to our car. We got to the tracks just as the caboose was passing by. Katie searched for her stick markers and found our pennies. Sure enough, they were totally flattened. Way cool.
Katie was thrilled. She loved that we’d come up with a plan and executed it successfully. The fact that it spanned over two days complete with anxious anticipation made it all the more fun. She brought the smashed pennies into school today to proudly show her friends. And I’m sure she’ll save them in her special box and always remember the time we raced to the train tracks so excited to see if our plan had worked.
I know we’re not the first people to ever throw pennies on train tracks, but I’ve found that sometimes it’s the simplest, little activities that help us bond and make the most lasting memories.
I’ve been teaching the Evil Genius a bit about soccer (football in any other nation but this one, which bastardized rugby, called it football, forever creating sports confusion on a global scale). I haven’t played proper soccer in about twenty years, but I was marginally better than a cabbage when I DID play, so I figure it’s the one sport I can teach him in our yard – the other things I was good at require either horses, open water, or a swimming pool (but not at the same time).
We play with a large, bouncy Spongebob ball, partly deflated because it’s several years old and we don’t have a pump for it. I’m teaching how to kick, how to control the ball, and how to use his face for blocking, but not his hands. If he continues to throw the way he does now, he’ll never be a goalie, though.
Shade and Sweetwater,
K (Who was just run ragged by a six-year-old. Sad.)
Kyddryns last blog post..I See
I wouldn’t even ATTEMPT to play soccer. That has to be the most physically exhausting sport! Those pumps are pretty cheap. You can even use a bike pump with one of the pins.
Puzzles and drawing are something that my son and I enjoy doing together.
Board and card games too. He’s 5 and I can remember 2….. but wow it feels like a very long time ago.
Enjoy your time creating memories……. Ribbon
Ribbons last blog post..Six Word Saturday…
Thanks, I can tell already that my son will enjoy puzzles. I can’t imagine him sitting still long enough for a board game, though.