Basketball Boy

A couple weeks ago, after bouncing the basketball outside with Sam, Reed decided that he loved basketball and wanted to get really good at it. Reed hasn't really found a sport he loves yet, so I was surprised and thrilled when he was excited about this one.


After his first day of working on basketball skills he was already planning on what his practice schedule should be. He decided he wanted to practice three times a day. Once before school, once before dinner and once after dinner. I was skeptical of how serious he was, but he surprised me with his commitment, rushing to get ready in the morning so that he could get the basketball out before school. It's only been a couple weeks, but except for a few rain days, he's stayed interested and on track.

Here he is showing me how fast he can dribble down the driveway. Always a student and a teacher, Reed loved teaching me how to do the crossover dribble. He explained, "So you pretend like you are playing the accordion but then you remember there is a cat that you don't want to wake up so you only go half way with your other hand." (What?!!)



Reed is happy to do the skill drills, but playing "real" games (or as real as you can get without an actual basketball hoop) is what he enjoys the most---and he takes it seriously too. Just look at that face.


When he was having difficulty getting around Sam he said, "Ah ha... I know. Think Small, think Small...." and then tried to go through Sam's legs.


Reed loves that he and his dad have the same shoes--so do I. (Nice calf muscles, Sam!)


My favorite part of this whole basketball experience so far is one day when Reed came rushing in looking looking for tape and a Sharpie. When I asked him what he needed it for he said it was because he kept forgetting to pass the ball. I was confused until I saw this...


This is Reed's new thing, but Max is not about to be left out. All Max needs to hear are the words "ball" and "outside" and he's running to join in.

I'm not sure how long Reed's passion for basketball will last, but I'm going to try to make it last as long as possible.