Comment by Moregan Kira on April 19, 2010 at 4:21pm

Yay! I understand this. I had the same sorta moment. Deniper told me he was thinking about hooping with me. And I thought, yeah sure. So, imagine my surprise once we moved in to our new place, he picked up a hoop and practiced for hours while I was at work. He has the bug probably worse than me now. :P

Go man hoopers!

Comment by Urbana Banana on April 19, 2010 at 6:36pm

Aw, that's so great! It must be nice to have someone to hoop with regularly.

I'll keep working on my husband. So far, the trick that seems to work is not actively pushing it on him, but letting him see me having fun and offering gentle encouragement when he does pick up the hoop. That's kind of what happened with jewelry making, and now he's better at it than I am!

Comment by circularlogic on April 22, 2010 at 9:36am

I had a similar experience with my husband. I'd been hooping for about 9 months, begging him to try to no avail, when finally I made a deal with him-- I'd go to a football game, which I hate, if he'd hoop with me first! I made him a big heavy hoop, took him out in the yard, & in one hour he'd learned waist hooping, lasso, some lifting, single "weave" & elbow hooping! (No transfers, but still.) He's fairly athletic so it shouldn't have been such a big surprise I guess. I was so excited & giddy-- he said it was fun & felt good-- I thought I might have a lifelong hoop companion, but he's barely picked up the hoop since. Sigh. And he'd rather eat bugs than make jewelry I think! His idea of a fun activity is splitting wood.

Comment by Moregan Kira on April 22, 2010 at 10:33am

Oh, I was thinking... maybe you just going, "OMG look at how good this guy is hooping!" Followed with video(s) of several men hooping... might help? Some guys want that reassurance it isn't a chick thing.

Comment by Urbana Banana on April 22, 2010 at 12:04pm

Circularlogic: That was a great idea! I'm sorry he hasn't hooped much since. Also, I think the reason my husband picked up jewelry is because it meant he got to play with drills and hammers and fire. I know that's what attracts me to it! ;)

(Also, those little deals seem to be a key to a good marriage. My favorite was: "OK. If you scrape the mold and gross food out of those containers, I'll wash them." I totally got the better end of that bargain.)

Moregan: That's a good idea. I think showing him Baxter hooping would really encourage him. That's the manliest hooping I've ever seen! In a good way. Also, maybe if I had some non-sparkly hoops. The size that works best for him happens to be my purple sparkly hoop. *Snickers.*

Comment by circularlogic on April 23, 2010 at 8:59pm

I made my husband a giant, heavy hoop in black, dark blue & dark green, not a single shiny or sparkly bit. He was adamant about that. I'm still hoping (first I typed hooping!) that he'll pick it up again once he's outdoors more in the evenings. (Grill season!) His hoop is definitely not an inside number. I've played with it a couple of times indoors but I was terrified to take it off-body 'cause that thing could break a window easy!

Hammers, drills & fire sound so much more manly than jewelry-making ;) but he's just not a crafty type at all. However his brother is a blacksmith & metal sculptor so kind of the same deal on a big scale, huh?

I'd wash a lot of dishes to get out of mold detail! ;) When my kids were at home I'd bribe them with special treats to help me clean the fridge. Doesn't work on my husband, alas!

Comment by Whatsername on November 21, 2010 at 8:04pm

My husband won't try ~ much. I got him to try waist hooping a couple of times, but as you say ~ for about 30 seconds. But he doesn't like to do anything he's not instantly good at. So that's as far as it gets.

It's ok. After 22 years of marriage, I have learned that we don't have to share all of our interests. But our independence makes us more interesting to one another. So I will hoop in the park, and he'll walk the dog. Then we'll share a bottle of wine, and it's a beautiful thing.

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