"You don't like compliments?"

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I’d like to say that after going to parent/teacher conferences for four children, I pretty much know what to expect when meet. Jack is our last and is in his sophomore year. I find him the hardest to read of my children and was very interested in meeting with his teachers to hear their impressions. He’s a good kid, brings home only A’s and B’s, takes honors classes, runs track and seems to stay out of trouble. He’s quiet though; seldom volunteering conversation unless you sit down next to him while he’s playing video games and ask a question.

“I’m saving the world, dad. This guy is my main man,” he says as the life-like figure on the screen disembowels some alien creature with three eyes.

He saves the world a large part of the evening, mixing in an occasional bout with a school book or some time in the yard with a basketball, Frisbee or soccer ball. He’s extremely lean, about 6’3”, fast, very coordinated, and jumps like a kangaroo. He has little interest in team sports, which I suspect frustrates any coaches who see him in gym class. He has one close friend, but that’s about it.

We met with every teacher and heard the same thing over and over. “Yeah…real active in class, always speaks up, a leader, lots of friends, always appropriate, not challenged enough – needs the honors chemistry and blah, blah, blah. I was surprised, to say the least.

The gym teacher is the head football coach and has noticed him, as well. “He sure has a lot of athletic ability. Does he have any interest in football?”

“I don’t want him playing,” Holly said without hesitation so he left it alone. I did tell him that he does track and maybe he could steer Jack towards the high jump. “He can dunk the ball and he’s still growing,” I said.

I was also surprised when we reached the Art teacher who had both Jason and Heidi and helped them achieve their tremendous success in the field. “Looks like Jack is going to be the best Rolf yet,” she said…which is saying something for kids with Art scholarships and recognition as the top art students in the school during their time here. I knew he could draw, but he’s only recently shown any serious interest so when she showed me the things he was doing, my jaw dropped. His stuff was really, really good.

As we were leaving, we passed two parents sitting on the floor in front of their child’s locker, sorting through papers and trying to neaten it up. I’ve been in Jack’s room and would know better than to go anywhere near his locker and ruin what had been a perfectly good evening. Besides…who cares how they keep their lockers…it’s not my headache. I noticed a white balloon sitting amongst the papers they appeared to be discarding.

“Is that a condom?” I said. Holly grimaced and they laughed nervously. Just wanted to give them something to talk about after we left.

We stopped at Pizzazz and had the world’s best calzones after conferences…which is a supremely good move when you’re trying to cut calories just before Thanksgiving. Though it was dark, I elected to head for the park and do a hike before going home. I stuck to the bridle trails and put in 40 minutes. There was just enough moon light to make out the trail, but little else. I hoped I wouldn’t bump into a 9-point buck in pursuit of a doe and end up like a pin cushion. I never did and I never tripped over anything, either. There is a good deal more serenity walking in the dark with little or no visual distractions. I wish I could run in the dark.

When I got home, I went to tell Jack what I’d heard, but he stopped me quickly. “I really don’t like to hear that kind of stuff, dad,” he said.

“What kind of stuff?”

“Ya know…compliments. It makes me uncomfortable,” he said.

Seriously? Was this kid even remotely related to me? I’d stop anyone complimenting me long enough to set up the video taping device so I could play it back every night for the rest of my life. Thank God he learns life’s lessons from his mom.

Hike duration: 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 200.