Pyrope is a laid back kid. Much like Jet. He doesn't have motivation to excel. If he can do it, that is good enough. He doesn't want to be the best. If it is hard or he can't do something, that is fine. He'll do something else. I wish he would try more to do things that are hard for him. Or try to do things he can better. I have to provide the motivation for these things. I think this plays into his poor attention.
There is one exception for this. Hockey. Ice hockey to be exact. Neither Jet nor I are much into watching sports. However, I do watch ice hockey when I get a chance (for reasons I don't understand, there is very little televised ice hockey where we live, although it is a large sport for boys around here). I was watching an ice hockey game during the 2010 Olympics. Pyrope walked in the room and instantly was in love, obsessive love. He wanted to know what it was called, then a host of questions. He wanted to play. The next weekend, we took him ice skating for the first time. We told him he could not play ice hockey until he passed a certain level of ice skating lessons. Thinking that he would give up long before that point. He has focused and practiced during ice skating lessons like no other activity. Focus is usually a problem, not at all of skating. The man who runs the learn to skate program is excellent. As in he is nationally known for running a very good skating program. Every time Pyrope sees him, he talks to him about playing hockey and asking if he thinks that Pyrope is ready to move onto hockey. While the hockey program does its own thing for the most part, they deffer to this man if the children are ready for hockey from an ice skating point of view or if they are better served with learning to skate better first. (Parents can always "overrule", but from talking to the parents who have elected to do that, it rarely turns out well) At open skate on Thursday, Pyrope got the green light to try hockey. Today was the first informational/weed out kids who are not ready session. Pyrope attended the whole time. He never got distracted and did his own thing, as many kids were doing, but he listened, waited in line, followed the directions, and gave each drill his all. There were 47 little kids on the little practice rink (the length of this rink is the width of a standard rink). It was crowded, and chaotic. It was interesting watching the wide range of everything. Kids that did not want to be there but their parents were making them. Kids that just couldn't pay attention and were skating around doing their own thing. Kids on the ice who could barely stand. Kids in full hockey gear. Kids not even wearing gloves. Kids wearing bicycle helmets. Kids without hats. Pyrope remained focused. The times he fell was because he was pushing it as far as his ability took him and a little more. He tried to go around the cones a little faster than he could handle at times (most of the time he remained on his skates). He tried to stop a little more quickly than normal, most of the time this worked too, but not always. He aggressively tried to get the tennis balls up off the ice before others could get to them. Off the ice, he is one of the most passive kids I know. He never tries to beat another kid to a toy. If someone else wants something he has, he typically willingly gives it to them. On the ice, in any related to ice hockey, he becomes the other person. Aggressive. Pushing the envelope in his abilities.
I like it. I wish it was a little bit of a cheaper sport/activity he was so passionate about, but I'm glad to see it. I'm glad that this is entirely of his own doing. This is not a passion of Jet or mine, or any other family member or close friend. This is Pyrope's. I currently am seeing many many practices and games in my future.
No comments:
Post a Comment