As many of you know, my son plays on a "travel" baseball team. If you aren't certain or are clueless about youth "travel" baseball, you're in luck because I will be writing a blog post about what "travel" baseball is and isn't'. A debunking of the myths and awareness of the realities-positive and not so positive. I hope this future post will help parents unsure or on the fence on this type of extra-curricular activity/sport. I prefer to make my post detailed for parents who (like me, a few years ago) aren’t sure about allowing their child to participate in “travel” play, so, I will post as soon as I feel the content will be helpful.
However,
for this post, I'm focusing on one of the joys of being a part of a "travel" baseball family. As you've learned from previous posts and tweets on Twitter, I LOVE to spread love and kindness as much as I can, and it's no
different with my son's baseball team. I truly enjoy watching these kind,
lovely, talented, and well-rounded group of almost-adolescents play and develop through a sport that I, too, LOVE! Many of them
have already turned 12- signaling their last "official" year of
childhood, but, I prefer to think that until the last boy celebrates his 12th
birthday, they are still 11, like their 11U category. I can’t pause time, but I
can use language to make it seem like I have that special power. Fortunately,
my son won’t be turning 12 until the fall.
Part
of being a member of a "travel" baseball family entails forming friendships
and relationships with the other families. Often, we spend more time with this
"family" than our biological families. With that, comes very similar
dynamics. Regardless of what group one enters (school, career, sports team,
dance, music, etc.), we eventually reenact our role in the same manner as our
biological family role. If you read my posts and tweets, you know that I'm a
nurturer and enjoy taking on a maternal role. Hence, it's not a surprise that
I do the same in all my groups to a degree. Primarily, groups involving my son.
I'm one my son's travel team's biggest supporters. I’ve been fortunate to have
been able to attend all of his games. I don’t have the cheerleader voice, but,
I make up for it by clapping away, tapping at my leg from time to time in
annoyance when there are human errors in the part of the umpires. O-k... it's more like a hard tap, but that's the extent of my annoyance, and a small-tiny grumble from time to time. I'm not perfect, I'm human.
Additionally, I always
have positive commentary for my son and his teammates. At times, I'm sure they
wish I wouldn't say anything. Especially, the rough games, but, it's who I am
and I can't help but have praise and positive words for children. However, I
can see when it’s best to not say anything and I don’t. Children don't always
want praise. Sometimes, they want and should feel negative emotions and time to
reflect on their own.
I'm
sidetracking, again. I apologize, I'm still learning the ropes of the blogging
world… More about this in future posts. Back to the reasoning for this post. This post is related to the
role I embrace on my son's team while sitting on the bleachers or my beach chair.
While my son is an only child, some of his teammates have younger siblings. Since
I was a child, I have been a magnet for children. Ha! It's probably my inner
child peeking out to say hello and children, immediately, spot it. As professional as I can be, I am also a
goofy-happy-go-lucky person and naturally children appreciate an adult that can
be both an adult and child.
Well,
one of the siblings, an incredibly talented, hilarious, and deep thinker often
sits next to me. I love chatting up a storm with her because her thinking is
incredibly deep, mature, and positive. So, this past weekend as we watched my
son and her brother battle it out for first place in Pony Baseball Sectionals,
a great idea sparked from our conversations during our time on the bleachers
cheering for her “rock star” (how she refers to her brother on the field) and
my favorite-baseball-player-of-all-time. We do “whoops” (she cheers, I clap)
while we raise the roof each time they have an at-bat! Ha! She is fun!
The
commentary and messages within our conversations have a depth that is often
experienced in a social sciences college classroom. As a 7-year-old, her
thinking is only going to continue to flourish which I continually praise and
scaffold. Her mom and I laugh a lot when we hear her commentary. Like I
explained to her when she asked why I laugh at her commentary, "I laugh
because you are funny, a great thinker and sometimes I laugh when I'm amazed”.
She lit up when she heard me describe her as funny and a great thinker. As a girl
resembling a Disney character princess, she is probably used to being described
and praised for her physical appearance, first. Since the first day I met her,
I praised her mind qualities because I try not to focus on physical
attractiveness, especially with girls. I don’t want the focus to be on
appearance. They will forever be bombarded with messages telling them that’s what they should value and strive
for most. So, I will do my part in countering that terrible message as often as
I can. My son has definitely benefited from my continual countering of messages trying to dent confidence and self-esteem. More on that in a different post.
You’re side-tracking, again, lady…
Yes,
yes, I am. I do apologize, I tend to do that when I feel passionate about a
subject. This story, Karina! Ok,
where was I? Yes, now I remember, I had a light-bulb (Ding! Ding! Ding!)idea as
we discussed the world’s greatest problems. Since I’m a writer and she shares
many interests with my son and me, I asked if she wanted to write a book. I
have previously mentioned to her, “…We need to write a book together…”But, this
weekend, I decided to actually start the book. She loved the idea and embraced it. “I
like coming to the baseball games now… You want to know why?” she asked with
her sweet voice. “Why?” I asked. “Be-cause I get to see you.” Yes, my heart
melted.
How Will We Go About
Our Book?
Summer
is my son’s favorite season. Not only because he is on summer vacation, but,
mostly because he is able to play baseball several times a week with his
baseball friends. They practice a couple days per week and play in several weekend
long tournaments. Currently, they are participating in the Pony League
All-Stars which entails weekly tournament play. Last weekend, they played for the Pony Sectionals Title (a giant banner that hangs in their home fields). After an incredibly anxiety provoking
game, they placed second when a talented hitter on the opposing team hit a walk-off home run.
Stop sidetracking, Karina! Sorry…
back to the book idea.
Yes,
the book idea was started as we watched this last exciting game. I guess I can
multi-task, after all. Ha! Look at that, I just had that realization. I try to
remain mindful during most of my activities, but at times, I guess it can be acceptable to focus on two activities simultaneously and enjoy both.
Each
time she attends a game, we will add content to her designated chapter titles. After
each section is complete, she will be adding illustrations. By the time her
brother and my son reach Cooperstown (next summer), she will have a book of her
7 year-old thought about our society and world. I saw an interest in the spoken
and written word, so what better way to nurture that fascination and wonderment
about life than writing it down. This could possibly lead her to bigger ideas
and books.
She’s a teacher and runner, too!
If
you are around children, often, you know that in teaching them, we are learning,
too. With this particular 7 year-old, this concept is most definitely applicable.
Not only is she hilarious and bright, she is also a runner and dancer. Yes, a
runner! She enjoys discussing hydration, gear, speed, mileage, etc. While I’m teaching
her about writing and running, she's teaching me about the ballet world. I
took a ballet 101 class a few years ago and learned the basics, but after not
practicing the terminology and poses, I definitely need a refresher course.
However, Ms.-seven-year-old-smarty-party is giving me ballet lessons and homework.
I’ve been practicing my pirouettes and need to show her progress this weekend.
It’s fun! Not only am I teaching and learning, but I’m also getting an opportunity
to experience what having a little girl is like since I only have experience mothering
a boy. It’s a win-win. I'm off to learn more about our world...
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