10 Very Good Things About Youth Baseball

Too often, the things that are newsworthy about youth sports are negative. Without a doubt, there are too many examples (even 1 is more than we need) of parents and coaches that put too much pressure on children and adopt expectations for them that are beyond their abilities. Certainly, the dugouts and bleachers are littered with fathers (and mothers) that are attempting to live vicariously through the children they are suiting up and sending into the field.

In spite of the negative things that exist in youth sports, there are places where some balance exists between only playing for fun and playing to win at all costs. My son is playing t-ball this year. I don’t expect that I’ll ever see him on a Major League roster but that is not the point. What matters is that…

1. He is on a team and learning the aspects of what that means.

2. He is participating in his community and making connections with people that he might not otherwise meet.

3. He is being active and playing a game that he likes.

4. He is gaining confidence in skills he has had previously and learning new skills to add to his abilities.

5. He likes the uniform!

6. He is having fun playing and we (his father, sister, and I) are having fun watching and cheering for him.

7. He is seeing adult men act in positive and responsible manners toward children.

8. He is learning that he can contribute to the success of the team without hitting a home run.

9. He thinks that the dirtiness of his uniform is an indication of how he played. It is CERTAINLY an indication of how much fun he had!

10. He sees that getting a game ball is something to strive for AND to be proud of!

He actually received a game ball early in the season and he still has it right by his bed to look at each day. Tell me that is not a very good thing!

TUESDAY TIDBITS

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Mom’s Team – Information for sports moms

The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need – Dr. Paul Pearsall

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If you have not tried some of the “make and take” dinner places, find one close to you and make an appointment. They are great time and money savers and the food is good too! Here are some of the more common ones…
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Let’s Dish

Recycling Only Goes So Far

I am NOT hard-core when it comes to recycling. I only started recycling a few years ago when I moved into a community that provided curbside recycling as part of the garbage pickup services. My thinking was (and is) that, if all I have to do is put it in a box and walk it to the curb, it is the LEAST I can do!

On my way to “the least I can do”, I got a little bit interested. It is not something that I am passionate about; it is not something that I worry about; and it is not something that I consider when choosing my friends or children’s playdates. It is just something that I do because it is convenient. If it turns out that my small contribution helps the overall process, that is fine with me. If not, I cannot say that I have sacrificed very much.

While I won’t win any recycling awards, I have learned a little bit about it and I find myself looking for ways that I can recycle things from my house. I have been doing it long enough that I know which of our regular consumables come in recyclable containers and which do not. We actually have containers for “recycling” on each level of our split-level home so that we don’t throw recycling away just because the container is somewhere else.

In my home office, I have started recycling my ink cartridges. Because I own a writing business and I keep track of my business expenses, I started thinking about other ways that I could recycle in my office. I print a lot. I print many things that others read online because I like to be able to hold them in my hand to read them. I always have a pile of reading going and I carry it from my office to my bedroom, to the car, etc. Sometimes, I print things more than once because I forget that I have already printed them. Often, I print things as a reminder. Once I have dealt with that particular task, I don’t need the printed version any more. I don’t make any excuses about how much I print. Likewise, I don’t spend much time trying to print less. I have come to accept myself as a “high volume printer”. The one concession that I DO make to my large amount of printing is to reuse the paper. After I have printed on one side, I turn it over and use the other. Since the vast majority of what I print is for my own use, I consider this to be just a small thing that I can add to the recycling universe.

That brings me to my husband. He has no trouble with the recycling that we do in the kitchen and the upstairs. He has gotten good about putting magazines, junk mail and containers from the upstairs bathrooms in the recycling container that we keep in our closet. When he remembers, he is happy to check for #1 or #2 plastics and send those out as well. Truth be told, he is usually the one that is dragging the container to the street each week. He draws the line, though, at my current practice of recycling my printing paper. He says that life is too short and his eyes are too bad to try to make out which print is on which side of the page. I guess recycling only goes so far!

SUNDAY: DAY OF REST

R – REJOICE in the gift of another day of life!

E – EXERCISE your body. This doesn’t have to be some major workout. Just take a walk around the block or play ball with your kids for a little while.

S – SIMPLIFY expectations. Just for this one day, don’t worry about being productive.

T – TREAT yourself to something you think is luxurious – a long bath, a crossword puzzle, reading ALL of the paper, an extra dessert – whatever makes you feel a little bit special.

Something to be Proud Of

I have no connection to Virginia Tech. Until Monday of this week, what little bit I knew about the school was related to it athletic programs and nothing else. Today, because of the horrific events that have taken place there, I know more about the school than I ever expected to. As a total outsider, I am proud of what I have seen.

In spite of the efforts of the media to lay blame in a situation that cannot be analyzed with any rationality, EVERY single student that I have seen interviewed has been calm, articulate, genuine and loyal. Obviously, they are stunned and heartbroken. Admittedly, they are confused and disillusioned. Certainly, they are afraid. Yet, they exhibit confidence in their Virginia Tech Family. If their reactions are any indication, it is a family held in genuine esteem and love. Undoubtedly, they have questions and, like all of us, they struggle with “what if”. They wouldn’t be human if they didn’t. What I see, however, is maturity beyond their years in the way they are handling the uncertainties.

First, they are gathering as a family and focusing on each other. There are too many stories to mention of the ways that students have contacted each other and made sure that friends and acquaintances were accounted for. They are connecting with their own biological families and drawing strength from those relationships.

Second, they are evaluating their roles in the Virginia Tech community and are offering themselves and their abilities to repair the damage this incident has caused. They are committed to something greater than themselves and they are determined that this not be the reason that people know about Virginia Tech.

Third, they are showing the rest of us that, in spite of WHY this happened, that there is more to Virginia Tech than this senseless, horrible event. From the law enforcement officials to the medical staffs to the university staff, I have heard nothing but praise for the students of the school. I get the feeling that those feelings of pride would have been expressed whether this event had happened or not!

Finally, they are standing up for their family, in spite of its possible flaws. I have not seen 1 student question the decision making as the event unfolded; I have not seen 1 student blame the university for what was beyond their control; I have not seen 1 student speak ill of the shooter. Does that mean that they are naïve or unfeeling or apathetic? No, it means that, like most families, they need to deal with their shortcomings privately – in their own way and in their own time.

What I have seen this week is a group of young people that are loyal to each other, loyal to their authorities, and loyal to their community. That is something to be proud of!

Eugene Robinson Column

This is a good article that goes along with my thoughts from the earlier post about Virginia Tech.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701461.html

A Lesson In Not Knowing Why

A couple of years ago, my husband, then 39 years old, had a major heart attack. He was not a smoker; he had no family history of heart attack; he was not a drug user; he was slightly overweight and had slightly high cholesterol.

During our time in the emergency room, numerous doctors, nurses and residents questioned us about his prior medical history, activities, medications, etc. More than once during the night, they questioned us about whether or not he had used drugs. At one point, one of the residents said “Are you sure you’re not a smoker?” By that time, the medical staff knew that he had, indeed, suffered a heart attack. What they didn’t know was why. On paper, there was nothing they could point to as “the cause”. They were confused and frustrated and uncertain. It was natural for them, as doctors (and as humans), to want to give a complete and thorough explanation of why. In our confusion and fear, we would have gladly accepted a reason! After all, there is some comfort in knowing what to blame and knowing why something happens. It makes things easier to process. It makes things “fit”.

Some days later, after receiving 2 stents in an artery that was 100% blocked, my husband was told, “We don’t know why you had a heart attack. There is really no reason why someone of your age with your history should have one, but you did.” It was not easy, but we had to come to grips with the fact that we would never know exactly why.

It would be wonderful if there was some way to make sense of what happened on Monday at Virginia Tech. Knowing what was going through the shooter’s mind would make it all “fit” better in our heads. Finding something wrong with the response of the university or the demeanor of the law enforcement spokesman would allow us to focus on something other than the uncertainty that surrounds us all. None of those things, however, would satisfy any part of the questions that we seek to answer about its senselessness and waste of young lives full of potential.

I don’t believe for one instant that anyone associated with the university or the responding law enforcement did anything LESS than what they believed was in the best interest of everyone on the campus. If there had been ANY indication of what was to come, I have no doubt that any number of the decision makers would have made their way to Norris Hall to take the place of the students that were killed!

In the days and weeks to come, our time will be best spent praying for the Virginia Tech community instead of looking for targets for our blame. They don’t have any more answers then we do about why it happened and they have a campus full of young lives to put back together!

TUESDAY TIDBITS

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Covering Tracks

While the rest of the world was waiting for the next American Idol contestant to be sent home, I was trying to cover the tracks of an incompetent tooth fairy. I managed to bluff my way through the worst of it but I had to finish the job and try to decide whether or not my bluff had worked. Here is what happened next…

With the hope of more money to come in his mind, the son headed out for school. He seemed relatively unscarred at the thought that the tooth fairy had forgotten him. The mom, still not sure whether he went for the explanation or just pretended to, wasn’t sure what to do next. How could she go through the day feeling like the absolute WORST tooth fairy in the history of the world (not to mention feeling like a pretty bad mom on top of that)? She went back to the son’s room; removed the tiny tooth; and deposited another dime in the tooth fairy box. That way, it would look like the tooth fairy had returned during the school day. The mom could explain that she hadn’t seen her come and go again because she had been there while the mom was out running errands. Perfect! Perfect, that is, except for the nagging feeling of having let her son down for no good reason. So, she did what any good wife would do. She called her husband so he could join her misery!

He answered his work phone with the voice that indicated he had checked the caller ID before picking up the phone.

“Can you think of anything that WE might have forgotten last night?” she asked.

He replied, “Well, both children were accounted for at bedtime. What did we forget?”

Because the younger child was close by, she told the short version of the story in a cryptic language that he was supposed to be able to figure out using the occasional words that she spelled out. After a couple of minutes, he caught on and the sinking feeling of wanting to put himself in the tooth fairy box began to grip him. She explained the story that they would BOTH tell when they were all together that evening. Quietly, he said “I’ll feel bad about this all day. I am officially one half of the 2 worst parents in the world!”

Knowing that her work with him was a success, she answered “I know. I didn’t want to feel this bad all by myself! See you later.”

The son arrived home from school with no comment about his tooth or the reaction of his classmates to his having lost it. Absolutely nothing that indicated what he was feeling (or what he believed about his treatment from the tooth fairy). Sometime before dinner, the mom asked if he had checked the tooth fairy box again. He seemed totally uninterested when he said, “Yea. I checked it.”

“And?” asked the mom, trying not to seem to anxious.

“She came back,” he said, still not terribly interested.

By now, the mom was acting like she was folding a shirt and straightening the covers on his bed. “Did she leave anything this time?”

“Another dime,” he answered. “Now I have 11.”

The mom was gaining confidence in the story but getting tired of having to play it out. “I knew she would come back,” she said.

“Yes,” the son answered. “She must have really needed my tooth!”

Tooth Fairy Incompetence

I have indisputable, undeniable evidence that our tooth fairy should be fired! On top of that, I have an admission of guilt. No, she didn’t make remarks about a women’s basketball team and she didn’t claim to know or be the father of Anna Nicole’s baby! She did, however, commit a terrible blunder. As much as I hate to admit it, what follows is a true story!

TUESDAY EVENING – After what seems like months of talking about loose teeth and watching him wiggle the loose ones for anyone that would watch, a son lost his “first” tooth while eating dinner at a restaurant. The dad managed to get him to the restroom before it came completely out (thus, making sure that he didn’t swallow it). Upon returning to the table, they nestled it safely in the change pocket of the mom’s billfold for safe travel until it could be placed into the official “tooth fairy box”.

Technically, this is the 2nd tooth that the son has lost but the first one that came out naturally. When he was almost 2, he fell and broke the corner off one of his front teeth. It was checked but, because there was no nerve damage and he was not in pain, the Mom and Dad were advised to leave it alone. They did until about a year and a half later when that tooth abcessed and it had to be extracted. The emergency extraction was the son’s first trip to the dentist and that is WHY he already had a “tooth fairy box”.

The family managed to get home from the restaurant; place the tooth in the box; and place the box under the son’s pillow without incident. The tooth fairy carefully counted out some change that would fit in the box and placed it on her nightstand. It would be the last thing she saw when she turned out her light and that would be a reminder. Or so she thought!

WEDNESDAY MORNING – The mom awoke and went to the kitchen to find the son sitting at the kitchen table staring at the official tooth fairy box. The mom, not able to see the box yet, said “Good morning”. No response. About that time, the mom realized what the son was staring at and what a terrible slacker the tooth fairy had been. How could she forget to pay for the first tooth this child had lost? The mom asked what was in the box, knowing that it still held the tiny tooth and wishing that she could, somehow, disappear into the box herself! Again, the son didn’t speak, but quietly opened the box and held it up for the mom to see.

“She forgot,” he said. He might as well have ripped his mom’s heart out with his bare hands.

The mom said, “What do you mean she forgot? The tooth fairy doesn’t forget! Let’s go look in your room and see what we can find.”

The son’s heart wasn’t in it but he followed his mom up the stairs and toward his room. When they were close the to bed, the mom asked “Which pillow did you look under?” He pointed and didn’t seem to notice when the tooth fairy managed to slide some money under the pillow and declare that it must have been there all along. He commented, like he was talking to himself, “I know I looked there before.” The tooth fairy breathed a small sigh of relief when he eagerly grabbed the coins and started to count. She even believed that she had dodged a bullet and averted the crisis when he said, “She still didn’t take the tooth.” Oh yeah…the tooth! How does the mom explain that the tooth fairy didn’t take the tooth?

“I bet she just forgot it. You should put it back in the box and leave it on your nightstand. I am pretty sure the tooth fairy will come back for it.” He didn’t respond to that because he was busy counting his 10 dimes and putting them in his coin sorter. In a minute, when the mom thought that he hadn’t taken the bait about the tooth fairy’s return, he said “Maybe she’ll forget that she has already given me money!”

TO BE CONTINUED…