Spring 2012, welcome! The trees are flowering and people are already starting to get back into the earth. It's one of the benefits of living in the south. Back in New York we'd wait another four weeks to plant anything. We had some really warm days already and this week will lend itself to short sleeve shirts during the day. TJ is 4 and 3/4. He's "matured" in the last few weeks - everyone has noticed; mom, Mrs Cooper, his teacher, our friends. The toddler gave into the child, and now the child is beginning to morph into the boy. This week he made "Student of the Week" at Johnson Pond Learning Center...we're so proud.
We bought a bat and balls and went down to the "Green Park" which is TJ speak for the park we used to go to before we moved into South Lakes and start going to the "Fish Park". It has a nice playground and half sized soccer field. I got it my head that it was time to start playing sports with my son.
Parents need to manage expectations. No child is a prodigy. Tiger Woods played golf for fifteen years before he was "good" enough for the pros. However, a dad hopes that his son will have some sporting ability - if nothing more than the warrior spirit passing from generation to generation. After his first season of soccer, I thought TJ would be a good teammate, but never much of a star. And since sports competency always seemed beyond my reach as a kid I wonder (and hope) for these boys.
I played a few seasons of minors in Little League on the worst team in the league, the Cardinals. We lost almost every game. I was number seven - not that there was any luck associated to it. Due my aloofness for the game as a whole I was relegated to the outfield where I literally sat and waited for the inning to be over. Of course, having your dad's business as the team sponsor only added to the overall humiliation. It wasn't until high school that I discovered Track and then it took another ten years to really get into running for pleasure and competition.
Unlike my brother and his children I am not sports oriented. I do not have a favorite team in any sport and will usually tend to root for the underdog in any contest because everyone loves a good cinderella story. I do not watch sports on television but when I do I know enough to enjoy the game and argue bad calls by the referee - all to Lisa's utter amazement. I don't get fans who adorn their cars, kids, and home with the home team logos. I have no ability to coach and pray that I am never asked. Furthermore, I think there is a very, very fine line between fantasy leagues and the people who play Dungeons and Dragons - both are very geeky to me. I just don't get any of it.
In my favor, I love to watch live sports. Hockey, football, basketball are all great sports to watch in person. I love Cornell Hockey, I really enjoyed the basketball tournament for work, and got a kick out of the college football game I went to last year. For me, being there and sharing in the excitement of the group is the best part of sports for me.
But I digress.
I bought TJ a foam padded bat and balls and took him on to the field. And the lesson began. "Right hand over left hand, TJ." Pause. "No. Your right hand."
"Feet apart."
"Hold the bat off your shoulder."
"Now watch the ball."
And he hit it. Over and over again. His form is sloppy and he pulls to the left, but he can connect. To my utter amazement.
I expect many seasons of sitting in the stands cheering the wins and feeling the losses. I expect that each will find their own sport that they will tend to excel at. I expect - more than anything - to see my children become members of a team instead of trying to be the super star and have fun along the way. I can be a fan - I can be their number one fan.
