Day 98 Skate Away

My son has had a rough afternoon. There's been some tricky business on the bus again and he's not completely innocent, of course, but he's being accused of some things that sound a bit exaggerated. I called around to some moms and had their kids tell us what happened and I've gotten a different account from what the school seems to believe. I'll be addressing that with them tomorrow.


But after being interrogated by a teacher he didn't know and the school psychologist only to be made out to be a liar (despite the fact that I've NEVER known him to lie) and then having a doctor's appointment which was followed up with homework, he needed some time to himself. So what does he do?...


He grabbed a skateboard. A board that he begged us to get him for Christmas a few years ago, but he's maybe ridden once. He donned a helmet. He headed for the driveway. I prepared to be heading to the hospital shortly. He's not the most coordinated kid you know.


I had nothing to worry about though. He peddled along. Wait, that can't be the right term. What do you call that when they kick off with their feet? Anyway, he pushed off with his feet right down the driveway and cruised (I know, that doesn't sound right either) up and down the blacktop. He was actually balancing himself. Who knew?!


Then he began attempting tricks. Say what?! Where are the car keys?! Is my phone on me so I can call 911?! But there he was, hopping with his skateboard (nope, not a technical term, I'm pretty sure about that) and trying something he called a Front Ollie (he said it, not me). He looked focus, and content.


I knew he was in trouble for what happened at school, despite it not being as big of a deal as it was being made out to be. But I couldn't take that skateboarding time from him. Well, I wouldn't have thought to ground him from ahead of time since he's never shown any real interest in it before. That might have been him being clever, but I'll give him that win. He needs it sometimes.


Watching him skate away his problems made me happy for him and it put a bit of me at peace as well. I was really concerned over the events that I was being told about and awaiting to hear from other moms for more details.


While he was skating away, part of me wanted to skate my worries away too. Instead, I gave him a thumbs up when he was successful, an "Oh well" shrug when he almost fell, and both of those were accompanied by a smile. I've found that a smile can be just as helpful as skating away, but without a helmet! Helmets are not good for my hair...