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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Ready, Set, NO!

Last weekend, I attempted to do yard-work with my 16 year old son. Mistake. But not for the reasons you might think. Overall, he was very helpful. However....

First, he had to shovel dirt faster than I shoveled. (Somewhat amusing.) Then he had to crash his wheelbarrow into my wheelbarrow and try to knock it over. (I must admit I enjoyed this for a while.) But then he had to overhand fling the sledgehammer just to see how far he could fling it. And then...well suffice it to say I might be too old now to apprentice Thor's little brother in landscape design.

It's not just yard-work though. You should see the look in his eyes during anything physical now. I remember this high energy period in my own life. I know his body is constantly revving but I swear his brain contains it's own starter pistol, and some days, not much else.

Here's the worst part though, the part that really irks me. After all that manual labour, he wanted to play ball, go for a bike-ride and shoot hoops. Meanwhile, my hands were already so stiff from hammering rebar that I could barely fasten the button on my pants.

Yup. It's official. I'm basically 90 years old. And it's all his fault.

7 comments:

Pickleope said...

You're human. Teenagers, not so much. Besides, you can blame him for 16 years of leaching all your energy.
This reminded me of building a fence with my dad. The most important lesson I learned was how to properly use all the curse words available in three languages.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh, what I'd give to have my boundless teenage energy back too! But not my teenage lack of experience.

CorvusCorax12 said...

heck my one and three year old granddaughter can wear me out, by the time they are 16, oh boy

Al Penwasser said...

Once my son surpassed me in games which require physical strength/dexterity/agility, I took comfort that at least I could still best him in games which require me to use my brain.
Then, he started beating me in "Words With Friends."
Smarty-pants college boy.

Sultan said...

I fear he will need a sit down job when he grows up.

Alistair said...

Stop complaining. I bet you don't look a day over 85.......

reminds me of some lines from a Leonard Cohen song 'Tower of Love'....

"I ache in the places where I used to play.........."

Vinny C said...

Thankfully I only see my nephew every once in while, so I don't get shown up too often.

Unfortunately, once we have kids, I'll have no choice but to spend time around them and their boundless energy, though.

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