Sport

Last month I got the boys enrolled in some sports. C has already started his indoor soccer - my kind of thing, one game a week, with practice in the fifteen minutes before the game starts. He loves it. He gets to be active without a lot of time commitment. C has been known to say, "I don't like to work." He means it, too. Lucky for him he is a little too smart for his own good, and hasn't had to work very hard in school to come up with good results. We are working on that.
T's baseball is quickly coming up. We got an email about TRYOUTS next Wednesday. That freaked me out, because very simply although he loves it and has some basic talent, he hasn't played much. He has had very little practice since his last league which was very low key, and 2 years ago. I'm planning on taking him to the batting cages a couple of times before Wednesday. If the snow will melt we should be able to throw a ball around, too. I just want him to have fun, and I don't want this to be a crushing experience. I don't have much in the way of "protective mom" in my nature. I have assumed that my children will learn the best if I stay out of their way and step in when there are safety issues. I have this feeling, and my feelings are usually right, that I shouldn't worry about it - that this will be a good experience for him. The best possible result in my opinion would be a desire on his part to work hard and improve his game. He is the kind of person that thrives on falling a little bit short. He is willing to work hard to get better. He doesn't mind work, and is quite unlike C in that way. He has always had to work a little bit harder to make the grade, but once he has something, it sticks with him.
E would like to try her feet at dance, and I think that would be a good thing for her. She saw some tap dancing on TV and was imitating it the rest of the evening. She is so cute that way. The things that happen during the day are literal springboards for her imagination. She and Q will see or hear something, and the next think I know they'll be off in a world of their own. I don't generally worry about how much TV they watch. They just don't sit still long enough to get much viewing time. When they do watch, I try to keep it to PBS shows, or videos that we like. Speaking of dance and sport, the 2007 U.S. National Amateur Dancesport Championships will be held next weekend at my alma mater. E's birthday is Saturday - what a gift that would be.
Being aware of opportunities and taking advantage of them is the thing I find most challenging. I want my children to try some things in order to discover what they do - and don't - enjoy. My parents gave me opportunities to swim, and I loved it. I sensed a willingness in myself to keep trying, and to improve. It was truly a personal sport for me, because I was never a real asset to any of my swim teams, but I enjoyed it. It was something that I could do. It rounded me out and helped me get beyond the academics of high school. I did a lot with academics in high school. I competed and excelled. Truthfully, although I was never a champion in the swimming arena, the opportunity to compete was just as important to me and is probably the reason that I want to support the desires of my children in the area of sport. I have to keep listening and watching for things like, "I really want to do soccer (or baseball) this year" and or the little girl dancing around the house. I need to ask questions and be ready to act. Sometimes, it won't be possible, but when it is I hope that I am always willing to support them in their desire to get out and play.