One of My Biggest Fears

Are my kids too busy? I often get down because it seems like every single day is filled with activities. As soon as school is out, I coach so I am dealing with my responsibilities there, but our kids have at least one practice per night.  Baseball, softball, basketball and/or gymnastics every day including weekends.

Are they too busy?  I think so.  One of my biggest fears is that at 9 and 6, they are so busy that they will be burned out by the age of 16.  That at 16 they will want to quit all activities because they are just done with them.

So far, we haven't forced anything on them.  They whine a little about practice from time to time, but nothing more than that. If they complain, we tell them they don't have to play the sport next season (what's a season anymore?), but they must finish out what they are doing now.

My son quit soccer this fall to play fall baseball.  He has said that maybe next year, he would like to not play fall ball and get back into soccer, we shall see.  We have signed a contract for my daughter to participate with a higher level gymnastics program, going 9 hours per week.  She has made comments that maybe when it's over, she'd like to go back to her old gymnastics teacher, about an hour or two per week.

Parents often want their kids to play so many sports at a young age to make sure they get a college scholarship.  That's the last reason why I want my kids to play sports, in fact, it probably isn't on the radar at all.

I want them to:
Have fun and enjoy themselves.
Learn to handle adversity and success with class.
Learn to keep competing through good and bad times.
Learn that in life, we often need the help of others to be successful.
Learn that hard work doesn't guarantee success, but you can still have a good attitude.
Socialize and bond with their classmates/teammates.
Learn so much more about life than they can get just doing nothing.

That's it.  That's all.  College scholarship?  Sure it would be nice, but it has nothing to do with them playing.  Call it the coach in me, but I see how rare that actually occurs.

Play hard, play smart, play together, have fun...that's it.

You Never Know

The repayment you get will more than likely not be in this life, give anyway.

This Matters More Than Any Sports Could

Love This Pic from post September 11, 2001

Enough

I don't know what it was about me when I was a kid, but I have always looked for approval.  Low self-esteem, insecurity, etc; I don't know.  I don't remember being that way until around 6th or 7th grade when I started to go through changes as an adolescent boy.  Always wanting to be accepted, loved, revered were things that I needed and was willing to sorta sell my soul for it.

Then around my late teens and early 20's, I realized that no matter what I did, you weren't going to get everyone's "love".  Then I started coaching and you have to develop a thick skin because sometimes the only person who loves you might be the person looking back in the mirror.  But that lack of confidence, in some ways, was still there and as I grew in my faith, I decided I didn't want to deal with the negativity anymore.  And I resigned.

Then the tornado hit and I tried so hard to do the right thing for everyone while dealing with my own "stuff" from it.  And what I realized was that those ideas of wanting to be accepted, loved, and revered were back with intensity.  I have worried so much of the perception of me in the public because not everyone knows me and if they hear something negative, maybe they would believe it and I don't like that.

But here in the last week or so, there have been a few situations that have arisen in which I have been innocent and yet there are negative ideas, comments, or whatever about me out there.  And last night, it hit me...enough.  I cannot control everything said or thought about me, so I am done worrying about it as much.  Some of the walls will go back up and some of the arrogance will return.  Even though I am a follower of Christ, I will always fall short and will continue to try to grow, but some of you...I am not letting you bother me anymore.  Enough.

So Busy

It is unreal how busy my wife and I stay.  Five years ago, we thought we were busy, but that is nothing compared to today.

We have our lives, but our two children are getting so busy.  Combine that with my "new" job in which I need to make sure that my plans are good and having to create them for Government that I am teaching, and I feel that I am running from one thing to the next...with little time to read, or write here.

What would I do if I weren't so busy?  I'd find something.