Today was Ben’s first day under the tutelage of his sister, which will last till the end of the summer.  She, Amanda, and I have set a course of development for him that will hopefully get him up to speed for kindergarten in just a few months.

And quite honestly, he needs it.  He is plenty smart, but his motor skills are quite a bit behind.  And as the son of an athlete, and a kid who’s sister is a top notch college scholarship athlete and who’s brother is heading to the Marines, the poor boy is in trouble!  But I will say that after even just a day he has shown marked improvement.  Both Steph and Scott, who were very athletic, are highly motivated to see him come along……and when we labeled it as “superhero training” he suddenly was up to the task.

Now I do not remember Steph having problems too much in this same area, but I do remember Scott.  He wanted to play baseball yet could not swing a bat for the life of him.  It was downright embarrassing….VERY embarrassing in fact.  But I remember watching him as he put a ball up on the tee again.  What a moron, he put the ball up on the tee and stood on the WRONG side, and then BAM……he hit the ball not just toward our house, but OVER it.  He bats left-handed.

He continued on as a catcher and became a great baseball player….leaving it all to play ice hockey like me, yet even he would tell you it was nothing like me at all….he totally sucked!!  But I learned a valuable lesson in all of it….your kids are not you, and it is best if you let them be THEM.  Scotty gave up ice hockey and became a lacrosse player, a goalie, and one of the best in the state.

Steph excelled too.  She was a perennial all-state player in lacrosse and is on a college scholarship for it in Missouri.  She qualifies for an academic one as well, but you cannot do both.  She goes to college for close to free and majors in Chemistry.  She was a goober at the start like Ben as well.

So I am not at all worried about the youngest.  Boot Camp has begun and he will be far different by summer’s end.  But his Drill Instructors have good hearts.  Time will tell what he becomes…..we just know he will not be the same as he entered our program!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+