What is it with boys and sticks? Spiderman and Ball Boy can’t seem to walk past a stick without picking one up. And the bigger the better. But even the smallest twig is not lost on their eagle eyes. They examine it as if it’s a wand from Hogwarts, mesmerized by the length, thickness, curvature and texture. They immediately start prodding dirt, tree trunks, each other and waving it around menacingly. Makes me think of The Christmas Story line: “You’ll poke your eye with that!”.
I admit I was drawn to sticks as a young boy, too. Perhaps I should be more restrained when they grab a stick.
What is the attraction?
Is it that they see themselves as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (having no clue who these classic characters are), dueling in the park, good against evil. Light sabers, these puny rods of cellulose, are not.
Maybe it is because they love to dig and a stick is a great digging tool, especially in the sand. They begin hollowing out an opening in the sand and it soon takes a whole new meaning. So they keep digging. I can see the wheels turning in their heads and I imagine what’s running through their minds: they are entering a new universe through a time warp (Spiderman is really into space these days), or they are excavating a gold mine somewhere in the desert. Or maybe, Papa, it’s just to see how far they can dig with their stick!
Or perhaps they see people walking around with canes or walking sticks and want to see why on earth anyone would want to do that. (Most would rather not have to rely on cane but then there is the cool John Steed of The Avengers!)
Or, they see themselves as the next Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth or Nick Faldo (for my English friends) learning at a young age how to swing a club and hear those timeless (but annoying) words: “In the hole!”. Ah, but then again they have yet to learn the not so insignificant issue about hitting a small round ball with a long angular “stick” into a 2” opening in the ground 400 yards away. I digress - knowing that I understand this all too well.
Along those same lines, they may see themselves as future baseball players with a sweet swing that will provide them a $5M ($3,283,000 GBP) a year contract - and that’s if you get a hit only once out of every 4 times you come to the plate. Like golf, it’s good that this is all lost on them at this age.
I know this may be a long shot, but perhaps they are thirsty from playing and recall hearing somewhere (not from their Papa I am sure) that sticks can be used as divining rods which will help them quench their thirst more quickly. I picture myself explaining this to Spiderman and Ball Boy and watching them look at each other and then at me with an expression on their face that says - are you ok, Papa?
Let’s be honest, most boys tend to see sticks as fighting implements first. But that’s not such a bad thing as long as they know the rules and the consequences. If they do, that sword is merely a twig, sprig or branch for the imagination that soon finds itself tossed back to the earth to treasure and take back.
But if not...it could put your eye out!
I think I will just bite my lip the next time Spiderman or Ball Boy pick up a stick.
