As parents we get used to taking on the role of teaching our children the rules of life. But when it comes to football –or most sports for that matter—I’m an airhead.
Watching the New England Patriots battle against the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants play against the San Francisco 49ers with my son over the weekend allowed him to become my teacher. It was great.
He gets to be the expert and shine. Plus, the older he gets, the harder it is to extract information about his life from him. Through football I get to have a dialogue with him and ask him questions about whether a call was in his team’s (the 49ers) favor, why Eli Manning decided to drop and roll before 10 men from the opposing team piled up on him, or what the term "holding" means. Answers: Eli Manning dropped so he wouldn’t get tossed to the floor before getting pummeled. The term “holding” is used when a player of the opposing team grabs on another player’s uniform, and it’s against the rules.
He clearly feels empowered by how little I know. I get to see a glimpse of how patient and thorough he is when in a teaching position. He takes pride in helping me learn the rules of football. Luckily, football is a game full of lots of rules.
What are ways you bond with your child? What are other ways your child feels empowered?
Image via Keith Allison/flickr
