When I suggested my 13-year-old try tennis, she quickly turned me down. "I'm not 1 , so stop trying to get me to do sports," Julianna said. I suggested it because some of my recent happiest memories were of playing ping-pong with her. Tennis seemed like a natural progression from ping-pong and a great way to2 some of her growing teen worries on a larger playing field. But my suggestion was always met with 3 .
Still, I was undiscouraged. I was convinced that 4 some physical energy would help Julianna. I've seen how sports help deal with stress, which was 5 to me when I was a teenage girl.
Midway through summer, we stayed at home one afternoon,really bored. "Do you want to play tennis?" I asked. "Sure," she said. Arriving at the 6 , we set down our bags, picked up our rackets (球拍), and 7 towards our sides of the court. The net felt like the visual representation of a growing 8 between us-I desiring a connection and my teenage daughter longing for independence.
I started by hitting a ball over the net, and Julianna took a big swing and 9 . We repeated this several more times. I held back the 10 to tell her she was 11 the racket too close to the neck or to step more into her forehand. We just repeated the 12 of me hitting the ball and her missing it a few times before she finally got it back over the net. "This is fun," she said with a mixture of surprise and joy and then she smiled 13 .
Now we always find time to play tennis. We're both eager for an activity that can 14 tensions between us in daily life. It's nice to have a place where both of us can release our 15 feelings and let them go.
