A few nights ago, I had the interesting experience of watching the Lakers take on the Boston Celtics in an NBA Finals game at home alongside by 4-year-old son Grant.
Although it was a nice father-son bonding experience, I really couldn’t enjoy the game. Every few minutes Grant would ask me questions pertaining to the game.
It was fun answering the first few dozen questions. I thought it was cute and endearing. I was just happy we were enjoying the sports experience together.
However, the questions never stopped. The inquiries went on nonstop, which just so happens to be one of Grant’s nicknames, because he never stops talking.
“Daddy, why are so many of the players bald?,” he would ask. Or “How come some of the guys have pictures and stuff written all over their bodies? That’s weird” Or “Do those guys smell really bad because they sweat all of the time?”
He also asked more technical questions about things like fouls, free-throw shots, timeouts and shooting. Although I tried to explain those things in very simple terms, most of the time he would just stare blankly back at me like Jessica Simpson trying to figure out her income tax statement.
At one point in the game, he asked me a question that left me in stitches. “Daddy,” he said. “does it help the Lakers win when you yell at them through the TV? I don’t think they can really hear you.”
Though it took every ounce of patience, I answered all of his questions; including the “no” I gave him when he asked to switch the channel to “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
As a father of two children — my daughter Shannon will be 7 next month — I feel it’s my obligation to try and come up with answers to whatever my kids throw my way. It’s a way of helping them learn, not just about sports, but about all aspects of life. That is one of my jobs as a father.
Being a parent is essentially being a teacher, and for me, class is always in session.
Over the years, Shannon and Grant have thrown a multitude of doozies my way, and I’ve done my best to tackle them. I have also done my best to teach the two the things they need to know to survive in life.
I have taught them that their mommy loves them very much. Even if mommy needs some “away time” by herself every now and then, she doesn’t love them any less. All mommies need some “time away.”
