Parks made front page of the Sports section in the Standard Examiner on June 26th 2011. It was exciting and his picture was also on the front page but something didn't sit right with me so I wanted to clarify a misquote.
When asked how he got his name I should have told them to ask Larry because he is famous for giving nicknames to everything and everyone. But only one thing I said stood out to them and that is what they put in the paper. It didn't sound good and it was totally inaccurate.
They said Larry jokingly referred to Parks arm as a piece of scrap metal and it stuck.
However...the story goes....Parks didn't learn to walk until he was 22 months old. But long before that he had an amazing arm on him and loved throwing balls. Larry called him 'Skrap Iron 'after the 2nd baseman on the Pittsburg Pirates (his favorite team). Skrap is also Parks spelled backwards. Skrap Iron eventually turned to Skrapper and I think it fit perfectly because he is a little skrapper, fighting for what he wants and finds a way to do it. So he had that name for several years before Larry and I realized the connection between Skrap Iron and his arm being like a piece of scrap metal.
Parks is not self conscious of his arm or anything else about having Cerebral Palsy. He jokes about what "lefty" can't do and how it does some things like waving 'hi'. Maybe as he gets older that might change but I hope we have given him the self confidence so that never happens! We would never nickname our child a degrading name. So it bothered me that that was what was printed. I wish they'd let us review the article and approve it before they printed it.
Parks only is sad about what "lefty" can't do when he feels like he is letting someone down. Like last year at South Weber's Country Fair days he was on an "Anything Goes" team, 3 boys and 3 girls. They do obstacle course racing, eating contests, problem solving games etc and race against other teams. He was not very fast at the crab walk and it really hurt his feelings only because he didn't want to let his team down.
He will never be able to climb a rope, or cross the monkey bars with his left hand, but other than that I can't think of anything he hasn't tried and done.
I remember when Parks was about 2 and we had him try a baseball mit on to see what he could do and Larry realized he would never be able to wear a mit on his left hand and catch a ball. We felt so bad for him then because he had a passion for sports already and wanted to play baseball with his dad and Hudson so bad. When he was older we bought him a right handed mit and he figured it out all on his own.
One Sunday during Sacrament meeting he wanted to learn to tie his shoes and he was able to before the meeting was over! He was the easiest of my 4 kids to potty train. He is my most thoughtful, caring and cuddly boy. Everyone of his therapists and Dr's absolutely love working with him. They say he is a hard worker, never complains and cooperates without crying even when it's painful.
And I think God blessed him with good-looks to compensate for his physical struggles. :)
When asked how he got his name I should have told them to ask Larry because he is famous for giving nicknames to everything and everyone. But only one thing I said stood out to them and that is what they put in the paper. It didn't sound good and it was totally inaccurate.
They said Larry jokingly referred to Parks arm as a piece of scrap metal and it stuck.
However...the story goes....Parks didn't learn to walk until he was 22 months old. But long before that he had an amazing arm on him and loved throwing balls. Larry called him 'Skrap Iron 'after the 2nd baseman on the Pittsburg Pirates (his favorite team). Skrap is also Parks spelled backwards. Skrap Iron eventually turned to Skrapper and I think it fit perfectly because he is a little skrapper, fighting for what he wants and finds a way to do it. So he had that name for several years before Larry and I realized the connection between Skrap Iron and his arm being like a piece of scrap metal.
Parks is not self conscious of his arm or anything else about having Cerebral Palsy. He jokes about what "lefty" can't do and how it does some things like waving 'hi'. Maybe as he gets older that might change but I hope we have given him the self confidence so that never happens! We would never nickname our child a degrading name. So it bothered me that that was what was printed. I wish they'd let us review the article and approve it before they printed it.
Parks only is sad about what "lefty" can't do when he feels like he is letting someone down. Like last year at South Weber's Country Fair days he was on an "Anything Goes" team, 3 boys and 3 girls. They do obstacle course racing, eating contests, problem solving games etc and race against other teams. He was not very fast at the crab walk and it really hurt his feelings only because he didn't want to let his team down.
He will never be able to climb a rope, or cross the monkey bars with his left hand, but other than that I can't think of anything he hasn't tried and done.
I remember when Parks was about 2 and we had him try a baseball mit on to see what he could do and Larry realized he would never be able to wear a mit on his left hand and catch a ball. We felt so bad for him then because he had a passion for sports already and wanted to play baseball with his dad and Hudson so bad. When he was older we bought him a right handed mit and he figured it out all on his own.
One Sunday during Sacrament meeting he wanted to learn to tie his shoes and he was able to before the meeting was over! He was the easiest of my 4 kids to potty train. He is my most thoughtful, caring and cuddly boy. Everyone of his therapists and Dr's absolutely love working with him. They say he is a hard worker, never complains and cooperates without crying even when it's painful.
And I think God blessed him with good-looks to compensate for his physical struggles. :)
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