Little Man Stoke.

[ez_ed]

Came in from a very fun SUP surf session. Some off season perfect waist to shoulder and perfectly formed waves....Fade left, whip the 12' board around right, stay high on the wave face, cut back digging the paddle in to assist, whip back right, glide some more down the line, kick out.....repeat......
Then paddled in to see my 3 year old fully charging the shorebreak(mind you this is protected shorepound blocked by an offshore reef but at high tide it has a little shorepound action-especially if you're not even 3 feet tall). He's just lit up with stoke and jumps onto the board. He belly rides a few I push him in on. And then, completely unprompted he just starts STANDING UP and riding to the beach!
After about 20 rides, we go home, shower off, settle in for the Lakers/Celts and he says "Dad, I'm a surfer now. Just like you."
I gave him a hug and asked him what he liked most about surfing.
"It's fun!"
Wisdom.

[SeaCliff]

Came in from a very fun SUP surf session. Some off season perfect waist to shoulder and perfectly formed waves....Fade left, whip the 12' board around right, stay high on the wave face, cut back digging the paddle in to assist, whip back right, glide some more down the line, kick out.....repeat......
Then paddled in to see my 3 year old fully charging the shorebreak(mind you this is protected shorepound blocked by an offshore reef but at high tide it has a little shorepound action-especially if you're not even 3 feet tall). He's just lit up with stoke and jumps onto the board. He belly rides a few I push him in on. And then, completely unprompted he just starts STANDING UP and riding to the beach!
After about 20 rides, we go home, shower off, settle in for the Lakers/Celts and he says "Dad, I'm a surfer now. Just like you."
I gave him a hug and asked him what he liked most about surfing.
"It's fun!"
Wisdom.

Now THATS the best story of stoke possible!! Way to go, little man!!! Hi five him from me, Ed!!
 

[Mims]

Awesome!!! 

[UNCLE!!]

I just like watchin NYCWahine and NYCWO's little kids Riding on their little surf boardsboards and standing on their boogs. It's totally awesome. At the Bar Saturday night I asked NYCWO's oldest if he paddles into his own waves. He Smiles, stands to his full three feet and says "Yes!"

    So totally Awesome.

[Joe 6-Pack!]

I just like watchin NYCWahine and NYCWO's little kids Riding on their little surf boardsboards and standing on their boogs. It's totally awesome. At the Bar Saturday night I asked NYCWO's oldest if he paddles into his own waves. He Smiles, stands to his full three feet and says "Yes!"

    So totally Awesome.

And then he pounded back a tall glass of milk!

[nycwipeout]

yeah, the stoke is pretty overwhelming and it's most of the time

I pick him up from school & take him surfing till the sun sets, then he brags to his mom how he surfed till dark, he lights up like a christmas tree with joy!

I'm right there with ya ed! would love to have my kids in hawaii surfing all year round, you're blessed mate! stoked for you!

[ez_ed]

yeah, the stoke is pretty overwhelming and it's most of the time

I pick him up from school & take him surfing till the sun sets, then he brags to his mom how he surfed till dark, he lights up like a christmas tree with joy!

I'm right there with ya ed! would love to have my kids in hawaii surfing all year round, you're blessed mate! stoked for you!

Sick.
With my 7 year old daughter, she could take it or leave it. She's able to ride waist high surf(head high on her) with a push-in. A total longboarder. Loves to trim. Even though she got 3rd place in the only contest she ever entered(and she had by far the least experience of the 12 competitors in her division). She'll surf a couple waves and be over it. She's more into ocean swimming.
But the little guy just froths. He WANTED it today. "One more wave, dad(I heard this like 10 times)." The July 4th Paddle Race is coming up and he started crying when he found out he couldn't do it with me. He was completely heartbroken.He's surf stoked. Mom likes it too since he sacks out every evening by 7:30 after an afternoon in the water.

[JerseyJen]

How young did you guys start your kids in the water?
Did you start pushing them into waves or putting them on the nose of a longboard while you paddled?

I guess we're going to start our new arrival on baby swimming at the Y this winter...can't wait!
He already loves the beach. If I put him down on a little blanket he kicks it away so he can get his feet in the sand.

[da Kook]

How young did you guys start your kids in the water?
Did you start pushing them into waves or putting them on the nose of a longboard while you paddled?

I guess we're going to start our new arrival on baby swimming at the Y this winter...can't wait!
He already loves the beach. If I put him down on a little blanket he kicks it away so he can get his feet in the sand.

Jen- don't worry about it.  I got a feelin that the lil guy will be spending a lot of time on the beach as he grows up.     The key it to let them find their own love of the water.  My son (who is 24 and can be just as stoked as NYCWO's lil guy) went to the beach from the time he was about 6-7 months old (he was born in November).  I used to take him out and duck under the incoming waves with him as soon as he was old enough to hold his breath(2-3?)  We have a picture of him when he is about 4-5 using a bodyboard as a skim board.  Wasn't long after that that he started standing up in the shorepound on the bodyboard.  We insisted that he learn to swim before he was allowed to paddle out on a surfboard.  He has been a full on stand up surfer since he was 10.  Did I mention that I started surfing at the same time as him?  If they see you having fun in the water they will want to join in.

[HydroGlide]

listen to DaKook or risk becoming a disney TV movie parental cliche -

parent:  but, but I thought you LOVED surfing son?
son:  no, you loved surfing, you never cared what I loved!
parent: but we surfed all the time together?
son:  that was the only way I could spend any time with you.
parent: I guess I never saw it - {heavy realizational sigh}- what do YOU love son? maybe we can spend time doing what YOU love to do for a change?
son:  figure skating - and sewing sequined spandex costumes for the other boys.

[da Kook]

listen to DaKook or risk becoming a disney TV movie parental cliche -

parent:  but, but I thought you LOVED surfing son?
son:  no, you loved surfing, you never cared what I loved!
parent: but we surfed all the time together?
son:  that was the only way I could spend any time with you.
parent: I guess I never saw it - {heavy realizational sigh}- what do YOU love son? maybe we can spend time doing what YOU love to do for a change?
son:  figure skating - and sewing sequined spandex costumes for the other boys.

But they could go on Dr. Phil as well.   

[HydroGlide]

Dr. Phil: On today's show we have a dad and his surfing mini-me.
Dad:  How bout you jam that comment right up yer ass "Dr." Phil.
Dr. Phil: Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right and sometimes you don't need to flunk out of school to put salt on your fruit loops.
Son:  Dad, what the hell is this clown talking about?
Dr Phil: Good progress Decisions - Emotions - Encouraging. Anger is nothing more than a game of frisbee in Tiujana.
Dad and Son: let's get the fark out of here and go surf.
Dr. Phil: Togetherness - you don't need the Big Bang Theory to scratch a cat.

[ez_ed]

HG, good stuff. And very true. The Menehune contest in Haleiwa is cutthroat. These kids are getting yelled at by their fathers, they have surf coaches, trainers, get homeschooled, have sponsors(some even have big money deals), and you see it in their faces. Some kids spend more time analyzing footage of their own surfing than they do reading books or doing HW. They're under pressure and they're 12 years old! I've seen dads yelling at judges because their kid didn't advance and judges changing scores to let kids advance. Ugly stuff.
I want my kids to surf for the love of it. There really is no other pure reason. I played hoops all my life at various levels and I can say my greatest basketball memories are from my driveway or local park 5-on-5 pick-up games. The best waves were never on film but etched in the memory banks and shared only with a few friends.

[malibu casey]

I want my kids to surf for the love of it. There really is no other pure reason.

Well said.  The competitiveness really gets out of control, and its even worse when its kids.  My 8 year old just "got it" and you can't get her out of the water now.  No more pushes, no more telling her when to go.  All she wants to do is surf by herself.  She was in the water all day the day of the contest here and I asked her if she wanted to join.  She just said "No mommy, I just surf for fun."  and then she paddled back out.  She's a little soul surfer after my heart. 

[McFloater]

i saw her over there killin' it! i couldn't believe it! so awesome.