Today, Heidi was at a conference in Cedar Rapids all day. A guys' day is something Owen, Alex, and I always enjoy. Today, we went to an Iowa High School Boys' Basketball All-Star basketball game, did a bit of grocery shopping, and hung out around the house. The hanging out included preparing a dinner of pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw, and sweet potato fries. Granted the last three things were simply purchased, but I was quite proud of the finished produce of bar-b-que pulled pork -- slow cooked for almost 10 hours. The boys enjoyed the opportunity to help me pick up a few fun things for mom, they had fun doing art, and also enjoyed a little bit of basketball on TV.
We were set to take our dinner to our neighbors' house which would lead into the boys' first ever sleep over, and as they became more restless, I relented and allowed a little bit of xbox. Mind you, this is the old-fashioned xbox, so they play NCAA Football 2005. Well, Owen plays. Alex usually lasts a while and eventually decides to either do a puzzle or play with some other toy instead. I've gotten the boys interested in dynasty mode in which they play a season for a team (i.e. Iowa Hawkeyes). They rarely get to play -- and Christmas break was the time it all really started -- but Owen has gotten pretty good at it. Today, in the season-opener against those pesky Missouri Tigers, he was struggling. While tending to the sauce for the pork, I heard him call up the stairs to me. When I went to the stairs, I saw him holding back tears. "Dad," he said, as the tears began to spill out the corners of his eyes, and his voice took on that holding-back-tears-sound, "I'm down six to nothing, and I've thrown three picks." Tears were on the cheeks, and the voice was cracking. I calmly told him to go sit in time-out, and as he walked by me, I said, "When you get out of time-out, I want you to tell me why I sent you there." (note for those who think that was harsh: time-out in this case is "cooling off" not punishment)
A few minutes later, Owen was out of time-out, and I asked him why I sent him there. He said, "Because I was crying about a video game." YES! I continued the conversation with him about all the blessings in his life, and then said, "It's just a video game, but you're frustrated about it. What can you learn from it?" He said, "Toughen up." "Yes," I said, "And . . ." "And get better."
There you have it folks. So often life forces us to do just that. Toughen up. And get better. I'm proud of my son! (And, yes, I told him so.)
Indeed . . . Never give up hope. Romans 5:3-5
No comments:
Post a Comment