What has your child’s youth sports experience taught you about yourself?
Kids teach us a lot about life. And having kids in sports takes it to a whole new level. I’ve learned a lot about myself throughout 20 years of sports parenting. And I’m not done; with my youngest playing college volleyball, the lessons are still piling up. Just because I’m not there to help her cope with day-today struggles, doesn’t mean my heart is hardened to her frustration.
The insights I’ve learned about myself while my kids played sports was stuff I already knew. But gymnasium and field lights can expose new angles to old traits.And sometimes it’s not a pretty sight. Maybe you’ve learned something things about yourself. Do any of these sound familiar?
- ·I want control.I want to know that every situation my kid encounters will work out perfectly.And the more I can do to help it, the better.
- ·I want to fix everything for my kids. Maybe a talk with the coach, or telling off that mouthy parent, or pushing my kid to work extra hard will fix things.Then again, maybe not.
- ·I sometimes say stupid things.After games, before games, after practices, before practices.I’ve pretty much done it all. Biting my tongue is a skill I’m still developing.
- ·I worry way too much. When my son was starting quarterback, I’d get diarrhea the day of his games.When my daughters played as varsity starters, I could not eat before the games.It’s a rough way to lose weight. And here’s the kicker: worry never ever helped them play better.It was just a habitual waste of time that disrupted bodily functions.
- ·I’m very competitive. Yes, I knew this before.It would come out when I was watching the Miami Dolphins or when I played ping pong with my siblings.But the competitiveness I feel when watching my kids play sports is almost embarrassing.What mom doesn’t always want her kids to win and succeed and shine and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are the best there ever was?
- ·I love my children very much. Of course I knew this before they played sports.But the reason that I do all those other dumb things is because I dolove my kids so much. And sometimes I just can’t control the way it shows.
It’s been a long 20 years of self-discovery.What has your journey looked like?
