In all of my childhood, my father kept a pool table in his den. Some of my earliest memories are of playing pool with him. When I got older, moved out, went to college, eventually got married and had my own children, I still played pool with my father on holidays and weekends on the same rickety old table. A few years ago, my father got rid of that table and his den was rather empty for a while. I did not think much of it, being busy helping my sons grow up. Then, a few months ago, my father had a new pool table familyleisure.com  from placed in his den. By then, my oldest son Seth was eight and I decided it was time for Mom to teach him how to play pool.

Seth and I went over to my parents’ house on a Saturday. I spoke to my parents for a minute and then went into the den with Seth to play pool. He was very excited, as playing pool seems like such a mature thing to do when you are young. First, I taught him how to rack up the balls and chalk his cue. The first part was tricky, as the pool table reaches that space between his stomach and his armpits, leaving little room for him to bend, as most steps to playing pool require. He managed anyway and then got down to the important stuff.

When my father taught me to play pool, he took a very technical approach to it. He taught me about the angles my shots would take, the importance of force when hitting the ball with my cue and he spent quite some time explaining to me how where I hit the cue ball would affect how it spun. I applied the same method to teaching Seth.

One thing that Seth picked up on fast was the importance of angles when you play pool. He applied terminology he learned in school, which was pleasing to both me and my father, who was watching by now. Seth’s only problem was his lack of reach, but he was determined to take the shots without any help from grandpa or me.

Watching Seth take his turns, I realized how much I learned at my father’s pool table. I learned math. I learned physics. Most importantly, I learned how to have fun with my Dad. I only hope that Seth was learning all of those things as well. At least, I hope he was learning that his Mom could be as fun as any Dad can.