Monday, September 22, 2008

Tennis Anyone?

My son is trying to teach me to play tennis. Lucky for him, he has some of his father's athleticism because I have negative athleticism. I am the black hole of athleticism. I'm not well-coordinated, I have poor spatial relation skills, I'm not strong, and I have no endurance. Despite all this (and did I mention the worst part--I do NOT have the wardrobe for sports) and his teenager-disinclination to even acknowledge that he has a mother at all, he is teaching me to play tennis.

Yesterday we had our third half-hour lesson. He was so patient. He was so encouraging---lots of "good effort, Mom" and "that's OK, just try again" comments. I'm really having fun, and I think he is too.

I was playing in a khaki skirt, t-shirt, and Teva sandals (I have no shorts or tennis shoes) and was running after balls as best I could. At one point he said to me, seemingly out of the blue "That's exactly why you shouldn't try to do this in a skirt." Since I knew I hadn't just fallen down, or exposed myself in any skirt-related way, I was puzzled by the comment. Then he paused and followed up with this. "Oh, sorry. I guess that's just the way you would run anyway." OUCH!! But, since he didn't intend any meanness, I'm over it. (Do I really run that awkwardly?)

It all made me realize, though, how much he is growing up, and how well he seems to be turning out. This probably isn't the last time I'm going to need him to teach me a new skill. I'm glad we're starting with tennis.

3 comments:

I Drink and I Know Things... said...

OH, how wonderful. And he IS turning out wonderfully.

Now.... wardrobe.... VERY important. I'm just now allowing myself to become athletic. I wish I'd done this years ago. But I do always feel better when I have the right clothes. Except you can't go TOO far, or you look like a poser. (You know... overweight middle aged women on uber-bikes.... that kind of thing.)

Buy yourself some khaki shorts -the lame length as the skirt. That shouldn't mess with your brain too much ;) And definitely tennis shoes. With your spinal issues, you need the shoes if you're going to run at all. That's what I think.

And have fun!!

And...my theory (just in fun) is that after all the little bottoms we cleaned, they can change a few light bulbs, fix a few computers, and teach us tennis. Of course, I'm less charmed by that argument when mom uses it!!

I Drink and I Know Things... said...

I can't edit my post and there's a tragic typo.

I want your shorts to be the SAME length as your skirt -not the lame length. Nothing Freudian slip-like there, I promise.

Nina said...

Ha! That made me laugh. I can see how the mistake happened, Andrea. The "l" key and the "s" are so close to each other on the keyboard. Could happen to anyone!