Hi, my name is Kraston and I’m a skataholic. Have you ever felt like you’ve got a problem? I know when I was around 13 years old after skating a couple years that I was an addict. I lived, breathed, ate, slept skateboarding. It was always and I mean always on my mind. I remember Rodney Mullen in a skate video….probably Public Domain where he talks about education and your mind and how skateboarding helped him focus so he wouldn’t go crazy. After seeing that, I thought, yeah, that’s right…skateboarding is good for you, good for school and my grades will get better because I skateboard. Wrong! I never did my homework, I just wanted to skate and when I was in school, I looked at skate mags, played with my finger board and dreamed about skateboarding once the bell rang. It totally consumed me and I never could imagine quitting…well, at some point in the early 90s, alot of my skater friends quit skating as much and looking back now, it was a slow time in skateboarding history. I wanted to hang out with girls more and drive and skateboarding just faded a little for me…I didn’t have time for it anymore. So 12 years later, I get the spark again and I start skating again at 30 years old. Guess what happens? The addict in me comes out again, only now I am a responsible 30 year old adult with a wife of 7 years, a mortgage and 2 young children. Well, I didn’t think I would be so consumed with it at first, I just knew I wanted to skate again…there were free parks I could skate at now that were not around when I was in my teens and all sorts of fun opportunities, plus I got on my board and I could still do all my old tricks and now I’ve even learned new ones. When I first started up again, I was nervous, embarrassed because I was the only old guy I saw at the park. Once I got over that, I just wanted to skate all the time, so my skate on my 30 min lunch break got to be much much more and soon I was skateboarding when I shouldn’t be and lying to my wife and sneaking off somewhere to skate on trips to the grocery store even. I would get upset at myself if I didn’t skate every single day, I was obsessed with getting better and learning and landing more flip tricks….it was crazy. It was just like when I was a kid, except now I was suppose to be more mature about things like this, but no, it took over…a song comes to mind…ST….”beware, he’s possessed to skate!” Yep, that was me. You know, sometimes you can get too much of a good thing. I didn’t want my wife and kids to be part of my skateboarding obsession. I wanted to go by myself to the skatepark….don’t get me wrong, I wanted my kids to learn how to skateboard, but they were way to young and I was being selfish, not wanting to have to parent while doing my “stress relief” activity, ya know. Well, I’ve learned now that I had the wrong attitude. I now have gotten myself into a sticky situation with my family and with my finances and my obsession with having fun on my wooden toy played a part in hurting both my family and my finances. Since breaking my foot and causing a huge financial blow to my family, I have learned that skateboarding in your 30s with a wife and kids needs to done in moderation and you should get your family involved in your hobbies, not keep them hidden to yourself…make a day out of your skateboarding adventures or at least invite your wife and kids to come watch…don’t exclude them from your passions in life. I did that and I screwed up. My wife supported my skateboarding and now she doesn’t want me to have anything to do with it. I still love skateboarding and always will. I long to get back on my board and to the skatepark to feel the grind on my trucks against the concrete and do some noseslides on my favorite ledge and to knock out some no comply’s. I will get to the park ones of these days as I am very rusty now since I haven’t skated since March other than a few see if I can still ollie sessions! 🙂 ha! I will do it right this time, I will not blow off other responsibilities to my family or work in order to go skate and I will not be obsessed about it. I will make attempts at involving my family in skateboarding with me and not exclude them like I have in the past. Any of you have a similar experience with being obsessed with skateboarding?
A Blog for those who Love Skateboarding.
Yeah man. My wife bought me a Powell Skull and Sword reissue for my 34th birthday. I started riding as much as time would allow. In two years I have reversed the effects of fatty liver disease and I look at everything through the eyes of a skater. Lucky for me my wife is very supportive of my addiction. So is our son. I've got him on board now as well and am very lucky for all of this.
It is hard to make everyone understand our obsession with "useless wooden toys" but try. And be patient. If you can get your kids involved at some point then even better.
Stay Positive and thanks for the insights.
Hi Kraston. I too am addicted. Luckily for me, I was a skater when I met my wives. The first wife thought I'd "grow out of it eventually." 'Tis one of the reasons she is now my ex-wife. It was made clear to the second wife (as a girlfriend) that the package included a skateboard. She has been more than supportive, and has even allowed me to turn every major trip in our lives (including our honeymoon in NZ) into a skate trip of some sort. I am truly blessed.
I am also obsessed (hence my constant perusing of the interweb for more skate input when I'm not skating) yet it hasn't affected my work (unless you count my office being decorated with autographs and skate action figures). Though my wife has threatened to leave me on the couch to rot if ever I severely injure myself again. (She had to drive everywhere and cart me around for 8 weeks when I folded my ankle a few years ago.) She's no longer willing to do that with the kiddo now. I'm on my own.
So when I get the opportunity to skate, I thank her profusely and pad up. (Though I was fully padded with the ankle incident.) Hopefully your family will come to understand that you are a skater. It's like the color of your skin, and the reason fish swim, birds sing, and the sky is blue… it just IS.
Good luck.
Yo Kraston, I am also in my 30's and after a 20 year break from it, I am skating once again. Like you, I didn't have access to the skateparks, if there were any around, and didn't have the equipment to gain access to them anyway if there were. It isn't consuming my life, but I find myself wanting to skate at any given point in time. I love that I am a father, husband, homeowner, and also a skater to boot. Coincidently, my wife LOVES skater-dudes, so it's helping me out in other ways too.
I just did it. After 13 years, I went out skateboarding again, and it was the most fun I've had in a long time. I just turned 32 yesterday, and after a week of watching skateboarding on youtube to get the feel back, I finally went back out and did it. It was only for about 45 minutes, and I was nervous as hell at first, but little by little it started to come back, just a bit. I landed a backside pop shuvit, ollied up a curb, down a curb, a modest nollie, I almost landed a frontside pop shuvit, and I almost landed a really nice high kickflip, but the balance just wasn't there yet. My ollies were surprisingly high and sticky but the balance when landing was horrible. I'm just happy I did it, despite one sneer for a wise-ass looking 14 year old–who looked like he might be a skater because of his shoes– , but that's to be expected. Other than that, everything went as good as I could have hoped for :-). I can't wait to do it again, I wish i never stopped. I felt like I had returned to my home, I felt like I was really myself again, and not something the world wants me to be. I will always love skateboarding.
Just started again after a 7-8 year "retirement". Back into it maybe 2-3 months now. I'm 36, but still get carded for smokes and beer, occasionally. Ha! It's all coming back to me fairly fast, but I have a slight beer belly to work off. No injuries yet (knock on wood!). I can relate to the "obsessed" thing. Constantly looking at videos and magazines like I did in the late 80s through the 90s. Hell, I even just subscribed to Thrasher again! I too am married and have a 4 year old son & 10 year old daughter (she lives with her mom). Wifey seems all for me skating, but cringes at the money I'm shoveling out for decks, trucks, shirts, etc. Luckily I get to quit my shit job to attend college this fall full-time!!! Skate n' school, love it!
Oh, I take Centrum vitamins and am laying off the booze. I want to get healthy again, not just for skating, but for better living as well. I feel 10 years younger!!! KEEP SKATING!!!!!
After 10+ years retired, I just built a killer 3.5 foot mini ramp and sessioned it tonight for over an hour. Most fun ive had in a long time. I saved the coping from an old ramp I had way back in the day, and reused it on this ramp, so that really takes me back. A little rusty still, but its coming back slowly. I am trying to figure out why I ever stopped skating, but i guess stupid life blurred my vision as to what was/is really important. I never got rid of my board (or that coping) so I must have known I'd get back into it somehow. Got a wife and kids now so just gotta take it easy… I just can't wait to get my old tricks back, and learn more… And I really can't wait to teach my kids how to ride the mini when they are old enough!