Did your parents know you went skydiving your first time?

[brucet7 0]

I too was 55 when I did my first jump (static line). Mom didn't really like it, but it didn't matter much. She saw me the first time after 30 or so, and had to admit that she liked watching more than she thought.

As to the rest of my family, my wife encouraged it, and my kids gave me gifts certs for birthday presents.

POPS #10623; SOS #1672

[racerman 0]

They had to, I needed a ride to the DZ. I just turned 16 and didn't have a drivers liscense yet.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Quote

They had to, I needed a ride to the DZ. I just turned 16 and didn't have a drivers liscense yet.

Sweet! Did you get your A license before your driver's license? That would be epic!

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[pontiacgtp00 0]

My first jump was a tandem, they thought it was really cool, scary, but looked like fun. Three days later when I said I'm going back to learn how to skydive on my own I got the response "No nooo, you don't need to be going and doing all that again this weekend, we'll go some other weekend I don't have the time this weekend to go." My response: "What? Well you aren't exactly required to be at the dropzone while I jump, you'd probably be bored to tears anyway."

For the next year after I was licensed, if the weekend was gray + rainy my folks would make comments "Wow too bad you can't go skydive this weekend, maybe next weekend huh." When the weather was clear though they'd make comments like "You don't have to go jumping every single weekend, skydiving will still be there even if you take a few months off."

Note: They knew about it from Facebook status updates and all that, I didn't live with them.

Eventually they simply lost track of when I was skydiving or not, and we eventually stopped talking about it altogether.

[racerman 0]

Between Skydiving, dating,school and working to pay for everything it took awhile to get my A. I needed my DL asap so I didn't have to depend on a ride. It's hard to soar like an eagle with your Dad or worse, your Mom hanging out a the DZ while you jump.

[Striker1521 0]

My mom was worried when I told her I was going on a tandem. She cried when I told her I was going through with AFF. She's used to it by now.

[TriGirl 318]

Two stories:

Story #1 (my own). I was in college, working weekend nights in a blues bar. One of my friends called me at work to say that several guys were going skydiving the next day, they had an extra spot, and did I want to take it? Once I figured out I could afford it, I said, "of course!" The next evening I called Mom to tell her what I did that weekend. As I expected, she laughed a bit, was glad I had fun, and was also glad I chose to tell her after the fact, so she wouldn't spend the day worrying!
Story #2: A military officer from another country happens also to be royalty (names/countries withheld since I don't have her permission!). When she was 18, and a commissioned officer, she was doing an exchange tour in the US. She had the opportunity, so she did the static line course at Ft. Benning. She didn't call home to tell Daddy (a.k.a. His Majesty) until after she had earned her jump wings! From what I understand, he understood that that was just her nature and sort of laughed it off. However, she is still convinced that had she "asked permission," she would have been denied. Last I talked to her, she had quit jumping because of a neck injury, but still wishes she could get back in the air!

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[ph.nilsson 0]

Well, I got my first tandem skydive as a graduation-gift with the motivation that "it seems like something your (older) brother would like to do". They figured I wouldn't go. And I didn't. Until about 2 years later, after starting to climb and watching a climbing movie with some base in it, at which point I sent an email asking a dropzone when they opened for the season.

The response I got was "you're booked 1030 on saturday" and so I figured I might as well just go with it. My parents drove me to the dropzone while trying to convince me that I could go do some other activity instead, "what about a hot-air ballon ride?". Three weeks later I did another tandem, this time my parents were really not liking the idea.

Another month passed and before my aff started. Now, at 45 jumps, my mom reeeally doesn't like it (even crying while telling me that she doesn't want me to die at one point...) whereas I kinda suspect that my dad brags a bit about it at work and such...

[krissy23 0]

I was 21 when I did my first jump (tandem). It was my birthday present from my Mum and Dad and they came with me to watch. Dad actually apologised when I landed because he saw the look in my eyes that meant that their gift was going to go on to cost me a lot of time and money over the years!