some things do not need to be taught...

as a father I have come to learn that some things just do not need to be taught...

like breaking bottles
that is not something that needs to be taught
that is something that boys just do naturally
get a couple of kids on the train tracks
and well
in a matter of time their interests will move from the balance beam to the destructive pleasure of breaking bottles

this weekend I found myself trying to teach my sons something that they do not necessarily need to be taught
I was in a parking lot not far from the house with the boys trying to teach them how to SKID

part of my desire to teach the boys to skid was not so much the pleasure of burning rubber or the cool factor points that someone gets when they roll in fast on their friends and skid to a sliding halt
but rather that my older son is breaking high rather than low

as much as I try to instruct him to break around the six o' clock position he is always breaking around the eleven o' clock
so it was more an issue of trying to teach stronger breaking positions and control
than the destruction of the treads on a tire

it was a good day on the bike...
yes...
it was a short ride across town through car less traffic to work on an early sunday morning
only to return early sunday afternoon
only to run into my own kids entering the alley with their bikes
we rode the sidewalks and alleys to the parking of a school in the neighborhood
what a blast

really I should have a unicycle for such trips
not so much to learn to ride a unicycle
but so that I am humbled
and reminded the awkwardness of being a beginner