Yesterday reality hit the Cerny family a little harder than we liked, so we decided to get out of the house for a little while. We decided to gnaw on dead animal flesh at Saltgrass and go bowling. After a few wrong turns we wound up at the lanes by our house. We rented the shoes, grabbed our balls, and headed towards lane 40, the last lane in the house. It was almost as if they figured out that our bowling technique should be far away from the rest of the Friday night lot so as not to infect the others. I tried out some LEBOWSKI jokes on the wife and kid, but they didn't get them.
Anyway, Taylor had a hard time rolling the ball, and she kept wanting to quit. "I can't do it, daddy." Now, I hate that, honestly. I don't think anyone should quit something because it's too difficult. Eventually, after a few unsuccessful tosses down the lane, our drinks and popcorn arrived and she went in the back to sit down.
A family next to us arrived, hauling a few young kids in tow. By young I mean 3 or 4 years old. The bowling attendant asked them if they wanted to set up bumpers on the lane. The bumpers prevent the ball from going in the gutter. Now, it might have been just me, but the idea of bumpers in bowling goes against the entire aesthetic. Sometimes your ball goes in the gutter, and sometimes you find that sweet spot just to the right of that front pin and they all fall down. That's just life. Bumpers seem to go against the whole idea. But their kids were having a grand time of it, and knocked many a pin down. Meanwhile, Taylor was in the back, upset.
Well, after a while, the family left, but they still had a game or two left on their lane, and they asked us if we wanted to finish their games off, with the bumpers. Taylor got up, threw the ball the best she could, and knocked some pins down. She did it again. And again. She was having a lot of fun, and learning something, even if it was just a little thing. I felt pretty lousy about being angry at her.
I wouldn't be much of a daddy if I let real life spoil things. Not everything needs to be a challenge. Sometimes we just need the satisfaction of watching those pins fall without worrying about the gutter. Sure, it's a little victory, but it's a victory. Eventually Taylor will learn to handle the gutters, and that's part of life. Until then, she's just going to have fun, and that's what being a child's all about. Sometimes we need bumpers.
(I also figured out how to throw with more accuracy and I got my highest score ever last night, but this story's not about me. Mom, you'd be proud of me, though. I kicked ass.)
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