I went bouldering this morning and had an unexpectedly profound moment.
There was what looked like a father-daughter duo of climbers that I couldn’t help observe (not the ones pictured). The girl was maybe 13 or 14 and just fearless and so strong already. They would suggest routes to each other, give each other tips and encouragement along the way, and debrief after a climb. Watching an adolescent girl coach her father was so cool to watch!
It made me wish that I had that kind of experience with my own parents, where we had some activity we did together where we could encourage and help each other get better. Most of my memories of doing activities with my folks were ones receiving only criticism, me constantly failing and losing, and feeling discouraged at the end of it. That was tennis, racquetball, chess, cooking, hacky sack, and pretty much any other sport or game.
Seeing awesome parenting is awesome. I wish I had said something to that dad.
Here’s world-class climber Ashima Shiraishi and her mom, as another great example.