As a kid, I always wanted to be a skateboarder. <\/p>\n
I had a skateboard, but I was never a \u201cskateboarder.\u201d See, there\u2019s a difference there. Having a chunk of shaped plywood with four worn-down wheels doesn\u2019t make you something. It only makes you the OWNER of something. <\/p>\n
I wanted to glide and feel one with the board. To effortlessly fly about the streets, weaving in and out of cars, just missing their speeding fenders. I wanted to jump over drooling, carnivorous, child-eating dogs. I wanted to sail through the air, feeling as if I was carried by the winds \u2014 not four little spinning chunks of rubber.
\n
\nI didn\u2019t want to be klutzy \u2014 the type of kid who looked so panicked and erratic on the board that people wondered, \u201cDo you think he\u2019s medicated?\u201d I wanted them to think, \u201cWow! His board must be fitted with an angel\u2019s wings! I have seen perfection, and now I can die at peace!\u201d<\/p>\n
This is how I wanted to skate.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t to be. I flopped about like a fish. I went forward while my board doubled-back and raced for safety. I defied gravity many times, but not in ways that inspire awe. More like ways that inspire trips to hospitals. <\/p>\n
I have no doubt that when I wasn\u2019t looking, neighbors politely mentioned to my mother, \u201cYou know he\u2019s going to die on that thing, right?\u201d She probably nodded in agreement and wondered about our supply of hydrogen peroxide. Were we stocked? Did we have enough gauze? <\/p>\n
No matter how much I practiced \u2014 how much I rode \u2014 I never was any good at it. I never conquered the asphalt \u2014 \u201csurfed\u201d the concrete waves. I was never a skateboarder. <\/p>\n
And I thought about all of this the other day. I was out walking my dog. With me was my 6-year-old daughter. She rode her scooter. A little pink one she calls \u201cFlower.\u201d There are flowers on the deck, and colorful clip-on letters that spell her name down the neck of the handlebar. It looks cute and dainty. But she rides it like a pro. With grace and ease. With confidence and conviction. <\/p>\n
No, it isn\u2019t a skateboard, but as I walked, I marveled at how she had already grasped what always escaped me. <\/p>\n
She weaved through a snake-like slither of zigs and zags. Like she was on that angel\u2019s wings. She raced up driveways, and back down before cutting this way or that. She sailed on it \u2014 sailed! \u2014 and I wanted to hand her the dog and take off myself. <\/p>\n
In a parking lot near our house she practices what we call scooter ballet. One day it will be a sport, this scooter dancing. Maybe even in the Olympics. As she runs through figure eights or other complicated maneuvers that she gives exotic names, she pli\u00e9s or extends her leg back, twisting it around behind her. She looks like an ice skater being carried aloft. Carefree and effortless. It\u2019s pretty cool. <\/p>\n
Now she\u2019s taken to jumping curbs \u2014 racing down a sidewalk and off the edge. She waves before she leaps, and has taken to speeding up, not slowing down, right before the plunge. That\u2019s the sign of a skateboarder. No fear. <\/p>\n
\u201cDang!\u201d I say, and I wonder why I\u2019m not terrified. Why I\u2019m actually encouraging this. Maybe it\u2019s because the \u201cboard\u201d never flies out the other way. That she doesn\u2019t flop about like a fish. That she has already mastered what I never even came close to grasping. Oh, there\u2019s something painful, and also wonderful, about being a parent. Seeing your kid \u201cget it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe she could teach me a thing or two. Just a couple moves. Even at my advanced age, I might get there, too. How to glide and feel one with the board. Like winds are carrying me. That feeling I always wanted. Instead of the feeling that I would be headed to the hospital at any minute, all while my neighbors muttered, \u201cSaw that one coming a mile away!\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a kid, I always wanted to be a skateboarder. I had a skateboard, but I was never a \u201cskateboarder.\u201d See, there\u2019s a difference there. Having a chunk of shaped plywood with four worn-down wheels doesn\u2019t make you something. It only makes you the OWNER of something. I wanted to glide and feel one with the board. To effortlessly fly about the streets, weaving in and out of cars, just missing their speeding fenders. I wanted to jump over drooling, carnivorous, child-eating dogs. I wanted to sail through the air, feeling as if I was carried by the winds \u2014 not four little spinning chunks of rubber.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[317,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2012-nutshells","category-parenthoodandchildren"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=894"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":917,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions\/917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}