Wax On, Wax Off
Sound familiar? Yes, we’ve all probably mimicked or referenced this iconic scene from Karate Kid at one point or another in our adult-ish life. I know for me I’ve been excited to share this movie with Luke and Harley and even attempted to entice them with the preview over the past year or so. The problem with the preview is it doesn’t necessarily take your breath away. It drops the viewer off on a dark eerie night while a group of sneakish high-school boys, dressed in skeleton costumes, attack an innocent Daniel just doing his thing (well, of course, he did just drop a hose on Johnny who was attempting to role a joint in the bathroom stall… but they don’t know that yet). Anyway, for a long time they weren’t ready until finally, they were.
For those who’ve seen the movie, you know how it unfolds and in the end it’s a lovely reminder of resilience, perseverance and love. So on the night of May 15th, 2020, I was excited to pump those subtle messages into the hearts and minds of my children and leave it at that. That’s all. Plain and simple.
I wasn’t totally prepared for the “ahh-haa” moment that would come next. On day 555 of quarantine, I was struck by something new. The waxing of the car, the painting of the fence and the sanding of the deck took on a whole new meaning. “That’s us!” I said. “We are now the ones waxing the car, painting the fence and sanding the deck! Don’t you see?” “Mom, shhhhh” was all I got.
Here’s the thing, similar to Mr. Miyagi, we’ve all discovered new ways to teach and see our children. We’ve discovered a buried treasure, a creative side we didn’t know we had. Mr. Miyagi doesn’t take Daniel to a traditional karate dojo and not until the final scene does he wear the proper uniform. While we’ve all been away from the more formal structure of schooling, something more brave, more resilient, more loving has blossomed.
I’d like to end with this. Yesterday, Harley found an old Nikon 3000 camera that hasn’t been touched it years. She gingerly (well, kind of…she’s been known to have butter fingers) took it from its case and pretended to start taking pictures. It was evident her enthusiasm was growing by the second as she listed off all the things she wanted to photograph.
What happened next was her Daniel moment. “Mom, I’d like to take the camera somewhere to get fixed.” Within a few quick seconds, she researched the local camera shop, wrote down what she planned to say on the phone, found the phone number and placed the call…all on her own. On a side note, I did resist shutting this entire operation down, for fear the owner would think it was a prank call. But I quickly realized, that was my fear, not hers… thank goodness!
While the owner didn’t answer, Harley was able to leave her own message on the machine. “Hello, my name is Harley Everitt and I have a Nikon 3000 that I would like to have cleaned and fixed. Please call me back on my mom’s phone. 123-456-7899. Thank you and have a good day. Bye.”
I know it hasn’t been peachy keen this whole time. Let’s be honest, it’s been down right hard, but in the end… there seems to be a new energy rising. Resilience. Creativity. Love. So…. what’s your Wax on Wax off moment?
