Five valuable lessons I’ve learned from my eleven-year-old son

Seeing as this week’s nominations are a tribute to Luke, and seeing as this week’s movie is School of Rock, it’s only fitting that I share the top 5 of many many things that boy has taught me.

1. The early bird doesn’t get the worm. The determined one does. For the past decade, Luke has been the most persistent and resolute person I know. If something looks awesome, he wants to try it—and failure doesn’t scare him away. At the age of six he taught himself to do do a standing backflip on his bed. Just recently he virtually taught himself to solve the rubik’s cube. You could see the frustration on his face when he was trying to figure it out by watching Youtube videos or trying out what a friend of his told him and still not getting it. But he worked at it to the point of borderline obsession until he mastered it. He did the same thing with learning to ride a bi

ke when he was five. Learning to ski at ten was so exciting to him that they couldn’t get him off the hill. His determination and belief in himself has inspired me in my new business venture these past three years.

2. Don’t let the hangups and opinions of others get you down. This is something he’s really good at. For example, Luke has never given much concern about things that are supposed to be gender-specific. He doesn’t care if the cup he’s drinking out of happens to be pink. He’ll very matter-of-factly tell you that his best friend is female. Sure he likes snakes, fishing, lizards, and wrestling, but for Luke these aren’t badges of honour that prove to him and others that he’s a manchild. He just likes those things. End of story. When people teased me about girls when I was a kid I got embarrassed and annoyed. He definitely doesn’t get embarrassed, and he’s only annoyed because they’ve already asked him. “So how many girlfriends do you have Luke? Huh? Huh?” The first time he’ll answer either “none” or “one” or whatever his answer is at the time. The next time they ask it’s like, “Haven’t you already asked me that like fifteen times already? What’s with you??” The hangup remains with them. The dude is like teflon.

3. Play! No one can match Luke’s aptitude for playing. He is outside so much that Joy and I never complain about him playing video games. (Not only are we past the whole “video games rot your brain” notion, but by the time he

sits down to play, he’s pretty much earned it.) Luke complains about being bored just like every other kid his age, but for the most part he keeps his life busy by enjoying it. He dives in. If he can’t swim, he goes with the flow til it comes to him. He gets all he can get out of every day. If life is a dessert, he licks the plate. I’ll never forget when he looked out the window a few years ago and seeing that the sun was quickly setting exclaimed, “Aw man!! This day was SO tiny!” I guess it was that good of a day.

4. Be open and honest. I’ve always known these to be virtues, but they’ve never been so tangibly displayed for me like it is in Luke. He tells you how he feels and doesn’t try to hide. And when I say he calls a spade a spade, it’s not that he’s brash. He’s not at all. But he doesn’t try and frame things nor spin them in the direction he wants. He simply observes and shares. And makes it look easy.

5. Jack Black is freaking hilarious! As I mentioned, his third favourite movie is , but I left it out so that there was more variety ( is his fourth favourite. And both of us would gladly pay the fee to enrol in Rex Kwan Do.). Luke and I can watch both this and and laugh at just about every line, and definitely every scene. ? Sure, we’d agree that it’s not a great movie. But Black didn’t disappoint. He even made bearable. I think Luke and I could spend a good hour quoting just his two favourite Jack Black films.

Congratulations . This is your week.

Best Actress:

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel in . I adore her acting, and I can’t believe what I read about her recently: she was not given a role because she was “too old” to play a love interest to a man who was older than her to begin with. It is, of course, ridiculous; but, it’s also absurd in the sense that she’s just that good. Who could possibly not cast her when she fits a role even slightly? One of the best in my books.

Best Actor: Black’s already gotten lots of praise in this post, so I’d give this week’s honour to Christian Bale. Like Gyllenhaal, he’s one of the very best today.

Best Quote: “What the flip was Grandma doing at the sand dunes?” — Jon Heder in (VERY hard to pick just one quote this week.)

And here’s a top ten list of my favourite school-themed movies (not incl and ):

10. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987) 9. Donnie Darko (2001)

8. Dead Poet’s Society (1989) 7. Lean On Me (1989) 6. Better Off Dead (1985) 5. American Graffiti (1973) 4. Rushmore (1998) 3. The Breakfast Club (1985) 2. Back to the Future (1985) 1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)