*that* mom

My husband, the kids and I were recently at a park about a 5 minute drive from our house.  We fed the ducks and then the kids wanted to go to the playground, so we headed in that direction.  Across from the playground, a little league baseball game was occurring and I couldn't take my eyes off of it.  The boys were probably about 10 years old and both teams seemed to be well coached and disciplined.  I found myself standing there and realizing how strongly I wanted to be sitting there watching my son in the game.  

Before I had kids, one of the things that I most looked forward to was trucking them to all of their sports and sitting in the stands and cheering them on.  Playing sports was of such import to my childhood that the thought that they might not be interested in sports was never seriously entertained, particularly as my husband was also involved in many sports growing up.

I was always somewhat of a tomboy growing up.  Some of my earliest memories included a large red plastic bat and a proportionally large white plastic ball that my father would throw to me underhand, imploring me to hit it and showing me the correct posture and motions when I wouldn't.  I learned to catch and throw at an early age and have never once been accused of "throwing like a girl."  I played soccer until I got into high school and then softball and soccer were in the same seasons and I chose the former.  

I really would like my children to play sports.  Yes, I want them to play for health benefits (which seems to be much of the focus these days to counteract childhood obesity), but I want them to play because I think sports has much to teach children about working as a team, discipline, integrity, and character.  I would love for them to play baseball/softball (my first love), but I am also very conscious of not pigeon-holing them into what I want them to do instead of letting them develop their own interests and gifts.  And, of course, it's possible that they won't want to do any of it (though we will give them ample exposure and opportunity), in which case I will allow them to pursue the activity that they want to do.

I don't want to be that parent who lives vicariously through their child and is screaming at coaches to put her kid in or pushes her child to the point that they are not enjoying themselves any longer.  I want my kids to develop their God-given abilities, whether that is art, music, drama (I have a good deal of certainty that particular one is not my son's gift), athletics, or all of the above.  I'm excited to get to know better what their interests actually are.  It does seem that my son enjoys sports so far, so I'm hopeful that I'll be attending those baseball games after all.

Of course, I do have plans to groom Ben to be a professional soccer player in Europe in order to get my husband to finally go there with me.  But, if he doesn't make it that far, maybe I can still convince Chris to take me to Europe anyhow :)