This is exactly what I thought as soon as I read Jay's post. Jay should
continue flying with his son, and fostering his interest, and put off
having him take formal lessons until he's atleast 15.

Yeah, I've thought the same thing, off and on. But...

Then I read Trace Lewis' posts, with him asking insightful questions about
flying, and creating little musical videos of him flying a sail plane, and I
realize that SOME 13-year old boys *are* ready for this kind of thing. I
just don't know if *my* 13 year old boy is ready for such things.

Here's the deal: We want our son to feel the joy of flight. We want him to
be able to feel pride in achieving something other than the high score on
"Grand Theft Auto" (a popular video game, for you old fossils out there) --
while at the same time we don't want to push him into something he doesn't
appreciate.

On the OTHER other hand, a 13-year old is not unlike a pack-mule -- he'll
pretty much go whichever way you face him. If you don't steer them, they'll
just sit around all day eating potato chips and watching TV.

We are able to give him a unique opportunity -- an opportunity 99.999% of
the world will never have -- but this can be a double-edged sword if we
don't do it right.

*sigh* They say raising kids is the hardest thing you'll ever do. I'm
starting to believe that.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"