Ian on the Wrestling Team

I got a call about two months ago from the high school wrestling coach. He said he saw Ian "wrestling" during a PE class last year at the public school and thought Ian would be a good wrestler.

I had many wrestlers in my classes when I was a teacher at a high school in Oregon. They were all pretty nice kids once you got past the mashed up ears. The coach at that time was also a good guy and seemed to care about how decent his kids acted. In fact, if two kids in particular had been able to stay on the wrestling team for the rest of their lives, they probably never would have ended up in prison.

But there's something rather primitive about wrestling. I don't know if it's the weird "uniform" or the fact that there's a lot of squeaking at a wrestling meet because of the sweat on the mats, or the odd positions the boys find themselves in. I don't know what it is but I've never been a fan of wrestling. Then again I've never been a fan of soccer, cross country running, track, Nordic and downhill skiing and snowboarding however when you have kids in those sports you become a fan of them.

I am a fan of book reading, yoga, horseback riding, fishing, hiking and camping as long as it's not raining or cold.

Ian came home last night, his first night, and wanted to practice his moves on me. What makes a 13 year old boy think he can practice wrestling moves on his mom? I told him that was a dad thing. I use that excuse a lot. Like the sex talk - that was a dad thing. And the online porno talk - that was a dad thing. And the never quit a team talk - that was a dad thing.

These are the mom talks: using deodorant and why, stay away from girls and why, bring in wood and why, shovel and the deck and why and you'll never get a date acting like that and why.

Soon I will be sitting on some hard, metal bleacher in some smelly gym watching Ian grappling with some other kid whose mom probably doesn't understand wrestling either. All the dads will be sitting next to each other hitting each other on the shoulders and standing up yelling at the poor refs. Competitive sports is a strange idea but as long as I can read my book when Ian isn't wrestling I'm good.