It’s been going on for years.  Holding your kid back a year in school. When I was in school, it was the country bumpkins who were into football.

“I gotta start junior at a later age so he can kick some arse in football,” was what we heard from those wise old men.

I personally didn’t think much of it until I met Gomer Cleaver. My son was 5 at the time and we were getting ready to start him in kindergarten. I can’t remember exactly where we met Gomer first, but his kid seemed to be a little bigger than the rest.

We got to talking and I mentioned how his son was so much bigger than everybody and he said matter of factly, “That’s because we held him back a year.”

“Why would you want to do that?”  

“Think about it.  If he plays sports, he’ll be that much more physically ready to dominate.  In the class room, he’ll be able to learn things a little better and my boy had a rough time adapting socially, but now he is kicking some butt and taking names.”

“Besides,” he added, “everybody else is doing it.  You don’t want your kid to be that runt who is actually the right age for his class do ya?”

So the more I thought about it, he was right. I overruled my wife on the matter and we held my boy back. I think that was one of the reasons we got a divorce, that and not listening or something she was yammering about.

But, we held him back 4 YEARS!!  

Yeah if Gomer could hold him back 1 year and his kid look like he did, then imagine how 4 years will be.

BEST DECISION EVER!

My kid was shaving by 3rd grade. He was so popular with his classmates. He was driving by sixth grade. He could get them into R-rated movies. His grades were alright, but so what. He was awesome on the football field.

He was MVP of the league his 7th and 8th grade year, recording a record 2500 tackles in one season. No kidding.

He was a starter on the football team as soon as he entered high school. Luckily we weren’t a big school, so his 5’ 9” 180 frame was useful right away at linebacker. I was sure holding him back was going to lead to big time football.

But, my boy stopped growing in 8th grade and unfortunately his senior year it just didn’t pan out the way we thought. The scholarship offers weren’t being sent like I thought they were. (Can’t Saban see how talented my man among boys was). The dummy was a 22 year old senior dating a 14 year old freshman in high school. Yeah that didn’t turn out to well. Something about statutory …whatever.

Basically, his football career ended in high school. Dumb college coaches. Why they get paid so much I can’t figure out since they can’t even see my boy’s greatness. He’s struggling to get that degree and having a hard time explaining why he graduated high school at 22 to future employers.

So, if you asked me if I could do it over again, would I hold him back 4 years? Heck no. I’d make it 6. He’d definitely ball out then!!

Thanks for the advice Gomer.

Photo courtesy of Brian on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/makelessnoise/