Fun with Sport

Last week, Secret Service, as a full-fledged teenager, busied himself with his peers and did his best to avoid interaction or meaningful conversation with me. Having time on my hands, I self-selected myself to be the parent who got to go to the last Cotillion class with Sport. The instructions were for moms to wear a dress and finding one in my closet of pantsuits was challenging. Digging through years of clothes, a dress was discovered, pantyhose were donned, make-up was applied and the next thing I knew, Sport and I were standing at the mantle in the living room, posing for photos snapped by Science Girl. Dressed in jeans, slippers and fleece, she looked content to stay home and happily wished us well. Arriving at the Cotillion, parents were directed to seats to observe while the children partnered up and demonstrated their manners and dances. Then, the parents joined their children on the dance floor and did the same dances. As the male, Sport was the lead. He patiently coached me about which way to go. And, when it was time to spin, we both laughed heartily at my awkwardness. Sport, swept up in the merriment, chanted, "Spin, my mommy, spin." It was the best laugh I'd had in ages, completely worth the cost of the class.

The next day, I accompanied Sport and his 5th grade class on a field trip to Young Ameritowne, where students-turned-citizens applied concepts they'd learned such as supply and demand, job skills and work habits, banking procedures, democratic processes, civic consciousness, and career awareness. Sport was assigned to be an accountant in the medical center while I was chosen to support the children in the newspaper office. When I glanced in the medical center, I was surprised to see the accountant wearing a lab coat, a stethoscope draped casually around his neck. Later in the day, Sport claimed he had completed his accounting tasks, and he was seen pushing children in a wheelchair and diagnosing their illnesses.

And a few days later found us working at the snack bar at a debate tournament at Secret Services' high school. Sport placed himself in charge of selling slices of pizza, elbowing the volunteer moms out of the way and making it his domain. When our time was up, the woman in charge asked if Sport could remain, saying she'd drive him home at the end of the evening. Alas, Sport had already committed to having a friend come over so he was unable to stay. In parting, as a gesture of her appreciation, the woman presented him with a whole pizza, which he was thrilled to accept.

A whirling dervish, accountant/doctor, pizza salesman - quite a week.