Say Yes as Often as You Can

 A neat thing happened to Grant, and I last night!  

While Mom and TJ were in Virginia looking at schools, Grant and I decided to ditch making dinner at home and go out for dinner.  Our first choice was sushi but both places we went to were closed on Mondays, so we ended up at the Aviator Smokehouse for wings. The Aviator Smokehouse makes some of the best wings around - smoked first and then flash fried for a little crispiness.  Yum.

As we were leaving Grant noticed a man in the Aviator's event space and said that he looked a lot like a YouTuber, Jake Weddle, that he follows.  I told Grant that the place was hosting a Comedy Night and it might him.  We confirmed it - Jake Weddle was on the bill!

Here is where parenting can be fun. The easy thing to do is say that it's cool and continue on to the car and go home. Sometimes parenting is all about just getting home to unwind. Being a parent, saying "No" is so much easier sometimes. However, a few years ago, I made a choice to say "Yes" more often and so I did the quick calculus and asked Grant if he wanted to meet the guy.

I went into the space where they were having the show and politely asked Jake if he would do a nice thing for a Veteran on Veterans Day and say hello to a teenage fan.  he eagerly agreed and posed for a couple of pictures with Grant.  

Teenagers can be so "been-there-done-that" who cannot be impressed by anything. Tonight, however, Grant was grinning ear to ear having met a famous person.  

I loved being a dad in that moment.

Perfect Memory

The Fuquay-Varina Middle School Football team just completed its first perfect season in almost 30 years! 

Letting Grant play football was a parenting challenge for us. He never played on a youth team. He might be tall, but he is skinny. His hand-eye coordination is average at best. However, last year he made his case and we agreed to let him play.  

Last year he didn't play much - for all of the reasons listed above. However, this year, as a 8th Grader, Grant got more playing time. Grant usually played on Special Teams and once an a while as a Receiver.  Knowing my son as I do, I could detect the ever so slight hesitation in him running into someone at full speed and hurling his body into them.  Grant was an average player but a great teammate.  He always supported his team and fellow players and even earned the coveted postion of "Bus DJ" with his tune selection.

Grant knows that his future probably does not include football and will very likely involve running.  Grant is a very good runner.  However, for two years he was football player.  I love that for him.

There is so much I cannot remember from Middle School. My memories are of dances at the Middle School, realizing that girls exist, and  that awkward time of adolescence.  I certainly didn't participate in sports aside from Little League Baseball - and I wasn't good at it at all.  

I hope that Grant holds on to this memory. Years from now, I hope he remember that year, way back in 2024, when they opened the new Fuquay-Varina Middle School and he was one of the first students to walk the halls and his coached worked the team hard to go 7W-0L.  

Go Bengals!