Skates

I went out yesterday to get R's first pair of skates sharpened and to look for some second hand skates for S. We went to a local sporting goods consignment store and the clerk measured S and we tried on a couple of pairs. He was very excited about the prospect of having skates and was paying way more attention than he usually does.

It was obvious that the first pair was a little small. So then we tried on the second pair and the clerk asked S to stand up and see how they felt. I tried to hold his hand to help him balance and the kept swatting my hand away! He said " I don't need any help", "Let go of me Mommy".

And then he proceeded to walk up and down the mat to demonstrated that he is in fact a BIG BOY and doesn't need any help. He just looked so pleased with himself. Even when he wobbled a little and almost feel over, he just grinned and compensated.

I've been reading a book called "Boys Adrift" by Dr. Leonard Sax. He talks about different environmental and societal pressures that are affecting boys and how those factors influence what kind of men they grow into.

I read his first book "Why Gender Matters" last week. That book looked into brain differences in boys and girls and talked about how to approach gender differences in teaching and raising boys and girls.

I'm going to have to go into more later, but I can't recommend these books highly enough.