Chapter 47: Fit to be Tied.
“Never go climbing with someone who can’t keep their shoes tied.” -MDMM
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was the last child at home and I would be starting kindergarten soon. I felt like such a “big girl” and just couldn’t wait to get to go to school like my sisters. There was only one problem. I didn’t know how to tie my shoes. For some reason, I felt like this was a necessity to start school, even though my mom kept saying that they work on that skill in school. My mom and I were walking up the ramp to our church one day and I noticed my shoe was untied. I stopped to tie it, or attempt to tie it, and Mom stood by and waited (patiently, I’m assuming). For some reason, this time, I was actually able to tie it! I remember being so excited and pleased with myself. All of the practicing had finally paid off and now I was confident to go to kindergarten!
When I was in college, I started getting interested in knots. When I went away to camp after college, I actually started to learn what the knots were and what they were used for. When Mr. Modern-Day Mountain Man started teaching me knot tying, I learned even more. I am one of those people who could stare at a picture of a book showing me how to tie the knot (even a fantastically diagrammed book) and not be able to tie it correctly. My six year old son, however, loves to study those books and can almost always get the knot tied correctly. A few weekends ago he asked me to help him make a monkey’s fist knot. After several attempts at looking at the directions in a book, I finally went to YouTube and found a video showing me step-by-step how to tie it. He watched it with me, looked at the book, and then set both aside and then tied it. It wasn’t as tight as it should have been, but for a six year old, it was really impressive. The most impressive part though, is that now if you ask him how to tie a monkey’s fist, he will walk you through it step-by-step giving really great directions and patiently waiting for you to complete each process before moving on.
For me, the best way to learn knot tying is in person, having someone show me how to do it. I’m still going to be slow on the uptake with the skills though. We recently were practicing our trap setting skills in the backyard as a family. I had to be shown the clove-hitch many many times before I got it correct. It’s not a hard hitch to tie, but I had to practice it several times to get it correct. That’s the best part about learning a new skill though, taking the time to practice it until you get it right, even if it takes all morning! My son being able to learn a knot and teach it to someone else is also a great skill. I envision him sitting around a campfire someday, teaching knot tying skills and remembering his first monkey’s fist at the age of six.
All of us need to know how to tie knots, whether just for our shoes, or for more adventurous pursuits like climbing or sailing. Most children learn at a young age how to tie their shoes and gain the confidence needed to try new and progressively harder tasks. The most important part of learning to tie your shoes or learning to tie a figure eight knot is practicing the skill until you have it perfected. If you ask the little monkey fist making six year old to tie his shoes, he may ask you if you want him to tie a single, a double, or a berluti knot (pronounced by him “bologna”). He is no longer content just tying a “regular” knot, even for his shoes, now he wants the challenge of tying more complicated knots. It’s not that he isn’t satisfied with the tried and true method, he just is wanting to try new things and keep learning. He is the kid on the playground who misses some of his recess because he’s helping a friend tie his shoes, or he’s teaching them how to do it for themselves. Let’s break away from the velcro and try new things. Attempt a new skill, practice it, and work toward the goal of being able to instruct others.
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