Parenting has taught the star quarterback that not every boy wants to do the same things. What a groundbreaking revelation.
Tom Brady is struggling with parenthood. But he wants us to know that despite all the curveballs his kids throw at him, he is still managing.
As it turns out, the much-valorized quarterback for the New England Patriots has discovered that his youngest son, Benny has no interest in sports whatsoever. Somehow Brady is pushing through this trying time for himself and his family. Thoughts and prayers, friend.
Apparently it blew his mind to realize that his son might not enjoy adhering to the stereotypical gender roles that are in place for boys in America. How is it possible that the son of a Super Bowl winning football player could not enjoy sports? It’s almost as if cultural stereotypes aren’t actually real, and when reinforced, they can put negative and dangerous pressures on children. Wild.
“[Brady’s oldest son] Jack loves sports. He wants to try hard, and he never wants to disappoint his dad,” Brady told Men’s Health. “That was me. I’d wake up early on weekends to do stuff with my dad. That’s why I didn’t party a lot. If Dad wanted to golf, I wanted to be there with him. And if I ever missed those things, it would crush me.”
Apparently the fact that both he and his older son displayed this similar pattern led Brady to expect the same from his younger son. When he didn’t get that, he was baffled.
“When Benny came along, I thought he would be just like Jack,” he told Men’s Health. “So I was like, ‘C’mon, let’s do this.’ And he was like, ‘Nope.’ And I was like, ‘What? No, do this!’”
Unsurprisingly, it was actually Brady’s wife, model Gisele Bundchen who smacked some much needed sense into the back of his thick skull. She had to sit her wonderful husband down and explain to him that this is not nearly as deep as he is trying to make it.
“Gisele kept saying to me, ‘Would you effing understand that your son is different?’” Brady told Men’s Health. “I was like, ‘What do you mean? He’s a boy. He should just do all these things that I do.’”
For those of you on the edge of your seat concerned, fear not. It turns out that he and his son have in fact finally found something to bond over.
“The reality is that Benny just likes different things,” Brady said. “And it’s great because now I just have to go do what he wants to do. When we do that, we have the best time. He’s like, ‘OMG, Dad, you’re so funny.’ He loves joking, and I joke back.”
Somehow Brady is learning to accept the fact that his youngest son is “different” and what’s more, that this just might actually be okay, and something to be encouraged. Thank goodness that this wound in the family unit has been healed courtesy of the gift of laughter. Perhaps in time they can use that bandage to work on Brady’s archaic understanding of gender roles. One step at a time.
Photo via Tom Brady/Facebook
