Wednesday, February 29, 2012

love & basketball


right now henry is loving basketball.
reeeaallly loving it.
he plays everyday at lunch recess. and tells us all about it at dinner every night.
he wears his hand-me-down basketball shoes to school.
he went on a little date with nate this weekend and came home with a brand new basketball.
then (as luck would have it) our neighbors got a brand new basketball hoop and said henry could shoot hoops anytime! thanks, neighbors!

so everyday this week when he gets home from school, he drops his backpack in the front hall, grabs his ball out of the garage, and heads out to practice. and then he shoots bucket after bucket until his arms get tired, or he gets super hungry for an after school snack and comes inside and reports on his performance. yesterday he told me, "i didn't miss a single shot!" i gave him the "check your facts" face and he said, "well, maybe i missed like 4 shots...but i made most of them."

the other day i caught him by the front window, watching some bigger kids from the neighborhood playing a pick-up game. i sneaked up behind him and i could hear his voice barely bigger than a whisper, cheering and commentating, get it, girl! aawww...so close! ooh, nice one! it was so precious (see picture above).

today lily and i were playing princess memory in the front room while he was out shooting. from where i was sitting, i had a perfect view of the hoop and my favorite little hoopster. he did make quite a few shots. i was impressed! and (of course) just so melty and soft inside for that darling boy, getting so big.

almost seven.

parenthood gets more complicated as kids get older; i spend a lot of mental energy worrying and wondering about how to prepare henry for all that he's going to come up against in the world. (it makes me dizzy to think of it.) and more energy actually teaching and preparing, trying to stay connected, making time to listen, prizing the important things like honesty and kindness and effort. it is very daunting and less instinctual than the kind of nurturing a baby requires. sometimes i don't feel like i'm evolving into this new phase of parenthood very gracefully, but goodness if you could see my heart and hear my prayers...

these two are everywhere.


4 comments:

  1. ..."but goodness if you could see my heart and hear my prayers..."
    Tears.
    Tears because you are such a faithful, devoted, valiant mother with pure desires for your children--and that is what really matters--not that you have memorized the manual on "How to Raise Brilliant, Fabulous, Stable, Confident, Faith Driven Children."
    Your heart is good, Em and I have NO doubt that your children will grow up to be everything and more than you could ever hope. Really.

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  2. Beautiful post, friend! You have a beautiful mother heart.

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  3. I love that basketball stuff Soooo much! Henry is amazing. Simple as that! But so are you :)

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  4. Ooh I love that little boy! I just want to squeeze him!

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