Time with my boys

Weeks like this past week do not come often enough; weeks filled with family breakthroughs!

One of Matthew’s friends was very excited about the prospect of learning to surf. This somehow pushed the right buttons, causing Matthew to ask to accompany his friend for a week of surf school. It is not like I have not tried to get Matthew surfing; instead all of our sessions have ended in frustration as he refused to step into the water. The water, of course, is an essential ingredient for surfing! Some time back, I ascribed his reluctance to a fear of the sea, and decided not to push the issue. Or at least not too much!

Matthew began his first lesson with a multitude of excuses as to why he was not going to surf. The coach told him to stop whining and get in the water. He duly did so, and then discovered a new passion. Five lessons later and he has been transformed into an eager surfing beaver. So much so that he enquired if it was too late to ask Santa for a surfboard for Christmas. Oh yes, far too late! He is an absolute natural on a board, even better than Luke, who represented Boland at that age. To watch my son who could not face the sea, suddenly execute a perfect back hand rail grab turn, made me shake my head in amazement.

I can only wonder what all the fuss has been about. I also am amazed at the powerful influence a friend can be, even at such a young age...

Whilst Matt was safely surfing with surf school, Luke and I found ourselves with time on our hands and a sea at our feet. We needed no convincing to make the most of our position.

Luke has always been a lazy sportsman, instinctively relying on natural talent, of which he has been blessed with oodles. The sea is a wonderful leveller. It eats you up and spits you out if you are lazy. Paddling for Luke has always been too much effort and so he has not bothered too much, exiting at the first twinge of tiredness in his arms. This week I have watched him grow from this good but lazy surfer into a stylish confident wave shredder. Our local beach hosted some big waves this week, which meant Luke has had to paddle for his life to get to backline. Once there he had to then catch waves up to three times his size. By the end of the week he was comfortable surfing anywhere in the line up, and taking off on absolutely anything. His performance each day eclipsed the previous day’s best ever performance. There is nothing that compares to a dad’s pride when other surfers in the water cheer on your little son and shake their heads in wonder!

An even more bizarre event took place when Luke cleaned his room; without having being asked to do so. He then happily mowed the lawn just before Christmas and even wanted to learn how to use the weedeater as well! A neighbour had roped him into watering their garden while they are away. The maturity he has shown in dealing with this daily task has been nothing short of amazing. Boy, has he grown up before my eyes, and in just a couple of days.

I am so blessed to have been able to spend this time with my boys. I have to wonder how much all of the ‘dad focussed’ time has contributed to these changes. And then I have to wonder why I have not invested even more time in their lives...