He Picked the Ball Back Up, and Put His Basketball Shoes On
My son started basketball back in April 2023, and quit a year and a half ago. Now he’s picked it back up. He’d mentioned in passing that he’d put on a lot of weight recently, and then one evening he said, out of nowhere, “maybe I’ll start basketball again.” I didn’t push him either way, just said something like “sure, go for it.” I knew from my own experience that nobody nagging me into jump rope was exactly why it stuck this long.
The Number He Picked: 5 Weekdays, 2 Hours a Day
The schedule he set for himself was 5 weekdays, 2 hours a day. My first thought was that sounded like a lot, but then I realized I’ve been jumping rope almost every single day for over 100 days, so I wasn’t really in a position to say anything. My routine is 20 to 30 minutes daily, his is 2 hours on weekdays only, so the shape is different, but I mapped it out side by side anyway.
My Jump Rope Habit and His Basketball, More Alike Than I Expected
When I actually added up the weekly hours, I came out to about 1 1/2, and he came out to about 10. On paper he’s moving more than I am, but strangely, we both struggled the first few days and then our bodies adjusted after two or three weeks. Remembering how out of breath I was over just 300 jumps in the beginning, even when he grumbled about sore legs in week one, he still headed out to practice looking like he was enjoying it. It struck me that he was just going through his own version of that same process.
Becoming a Household That Exercises Together
Since I started jump rope, dinner-table conversation has shifted a bit. It used to be all school and video games; these days, things like “how many jumps did you get today” or “my shot’s gotten better” come up naturally. My son restarting basketball was entirely his own call, but he mentioned once that watching me stick with something for months made it feel less like a big deal to start again himself. Hearing that gave me one more reason to keep at it.
Wrapping Up
What stuck with me more than the fact that he restarted basketball was that he set his own number: 5 weekdays, 2 hours a day. I started with 300 jumps a day myself, and it looks like he’s starting at his own pace and finding his own rhythm too. I don’t know yet how long it’ll last, but for now I’m just glad we’re both moving regularly, each in our own way.