I made some predictions in a recent post. Prediction #1: My son and I would attempt to catch some Olympic cross-country skiing on TV. Prediction #2: Those races might inspire us to hit the trails together. Prediction #3: This would cause me to transfer the burden of my unfulfilled dreams of Olympic glory onto his shoulders, in an attempt to live vicariously through him, as fathers of my ilk are wont to do.
And after he won his gold medals, he’d be invited to the white house to meet the President and First Lady.
Skipping primetime coverage of the elegant and glamorous sports, we were able to catch some fleeting moments of our favorite gritty, ugly sports during the afternoon, better-than-dead-air, filler broadcasts. We enjoyed truncated depictions of random cross-country races. We even caught a biathlon event. We may have been the only two Americans who enjoyed it. I understand; biathlon is too slow for this country. Had it been developed here, it would be done on downhill skis, and with a machine gun. And I’d kind of like to watch that too (but not in person).
My prediction #1: CORRECT
Having ferreted out our favorite Olympic sports and taken inspiration from them, we went to the park to emulate the Olympians. We didn’t attempt biathlon practice, not because it wouldn’t have been fun for us and exciting for the other park patrons; rather, neither of us wanted to go chasing after the Nerf bullets.
My prediction #2: CORRECT
Nothing livens up a Saturday afternoon in the park like seeing the boys at their biathlon practice. (Image: Bain News Service)
Though my son seems to like skiing, it takes more practice, and can become more frustrating than sports like, oh, say, sledding. Knowing this, I chose a park with a sledding hill and snuck a plastic sled into the trunk, just in case.
For a five-year-old, skiing means concentration, hard work, and falling down, especially when your dad needs to replace the short skis and poles you got when you were three. For a dad, skiing with a five-year-old means a lot of standing around, issuing encouragement, and getting cold. Together, we got through those frustrations.
Then, the great moment happened. The boy found his groove. It takes him time to get going because we don’t practice enough. But when he gets going, he has fun, and I get excited for him.
“You’re going so fast!” I told him. “I wish Mommy were here to see this!”
“Me too,” he replied. “It’s too bad she won’t go outside in winter.”
Too bad indeed, she doesn’t know what she’s missing.
At that point, things went off plan. I was supposed to envision him skiing across the finish line in the 2030 Olympics. I didn’t. Instead, I had visions of him skiing with me as an eight-year-old, a 12-year-old, a 16-year old, getting bigger and stronger, making me struggle to keep up. Along the way, his little brother joined us, then his other, soon-to-be little brother.
Mommy wouldn’t come out of the house. Even dreams have limits.
We went all the way around a big loop, the four of us, growing up the whole way. My old Olympic dream faded, replaced by a better one.
Then, we came to the sled hill. It was just me and my five-year-old again. We got our sled and put some icing on that cake.
Snoozing on the Sofa 
Our Five year old is in the middle of skiing lessons and is loving it
Good for him or her! It’s a fun sport and great exercise.
But I don’t have any hopes of the Olympics…just good old family fun.
And I bet you won’t be disappointed.
Great story! I’m glad to hear your third prediction saw you losing this year’s Nostradamus Award;)
Wouldn’t want to have a front row seat at American Biathlon btw…
I leave something to be desired as a soothsayer.
On an unrelated note, now that you are on the .net side, I can’t find a way to follow so that your blog shows up in my reader. I found the email sign up, but I’m not very good at catching those notifications. Is there a way to follow on WP that I’m missing?
Very good question, one that I’ve been asked a lot these last few days:S
I’m looking into it right now. I had all my WordPress.com subscribers transferred to my new site and was under the impression that would mean my posts would show up in their reader as usual. A few of my followers already pointed out this isn’t the case at the moment. For now all I can say is I’m trying to get a definitive answer/solution asap. Will keep you ‘posted’. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks for pointing it out to me.
In reply to my own reply: Each time I post something on my new site, I will post a short mention of it on Randomnessessities, which will appear in your reader. This reader post will then direct you to the new site. Once again I’m sorry for the hassle.
Very good. I’ll look for that.
Feel free to let me know if it doesn’t work;)
Here us Scott nageles blog. You can sign up to get new posts to your email.
You sure can! I highly recommend doing it.
I’m siding with mommy on this one. Some dreams are simply beyond our grasp . . . and our tolerance to cold.
You don’t know what you’re missing. Playing in the snow is one of life’s greatest simple pleasures.
You would think the US would win gold every time in the biathlon. Who shots more stuff than us? Nobody! Maybe those little circles just don’t inspire our shooters.
We like to spray our bullets. None of this “marksmanship” nonsense.
I think you are right that made-in-America biathlons would involve guns or skis on wheels – big wheels.
Go big or go home!
What a surprisingly touching post this is! Loved it.
Thanks. The way I ended up feeling caught me by surprise too.
Kids do that. Toy with our emotions…