Want to know a secret? For the most part, at least when it comes to actually being able to watch the sports....
I LOVE IT!
No matter how much I complain. No matter which sport. No matter which kid. Really! I do. I love it.
Last night it was a softball double header - the playoffs. It was my oldest's first game back after torn ligaments in her ankle. Of course it had to be playoffs, because who comes back to boring old regular games???? My daughter's team lost both games. Both games were totally within their power to win. Both teams we faced we had beaten at least once before. My daughter played, in her words, "okay". In my opinion, perfectly fine for a first game back. But not as good as she would have liked to play at the end of a season in an important game, had the summer gone differently for her physically. Oh, and did I mention? The games were in Armada - over an hour drive and mostly on back roads.
This should have been a recipe for dread and disaster, right? Wrong. Still loved it. I enjoyed every pitch, every hit, every strikeout, every play, every error. I enjoyed the comeradery of the parents in "soccer" chairs, the chatter spilling over from the bench. I can't say I enjoyed overhearing the coach's frustration at some slower timing and a little bit of bobbling on my daughter's part, but - hey - it's part of the game. And she will learn more hearing it from him than from me, that's for sure! It allows me to fully be the "cheerleader", as one of her past coaches once said, and know that she will learn what she needs to do next time.
Today it was a 2 1/2 hour swim meet. Only one of my kids (the youngest) swam today due to a last minute "injury" to my son. And she was only in two events. So, I was basically there to watch about 45 seconds of swimming. This drives my poor mother crazy. I think she has made it to two of the kids' meets over the past 6 years because she simply cannot understand why on earth sane people would agree to spend 2, 3, 4 hours to watch their kids for mere minutes or even seconds. In response to my scolding that she easily spent 3-4 hours a day at the hockey rink with my brother, her response is "Yes, but that was for a game that lasted an hour and a half." She has a point.
But it doesn't matter - I still loved it. Swim meets have a special energy. Particularly home swim meets in the summer. A big picnic is organized for the swimmers and their families for after the meet that is pizza and potluck. Smaller splinter picnics crop up around throughout the meet, connecting parents. We rush up to the fence every so often for our few seconds of spectatorship, cheer loudly and then high five our kids and collect their ribbons for safe keeping. Good times. In those few seconds of spectatorship is a thrill, a high if you will. Watching my kids executing strokes that I myself flail through is truly fun to me. They are not always perfect in their execution, far from it. But every meet shows their improvement and maturity. Have I mentioned, I love it?
I'm too tired now and this entry is too long to start in on volleyball. And soccer. And football. And hockey. And baseball. Right now my kids only play the first two. But I'll watch them all. And no matter how long the drive, how hot/cold/wet/windy the conditions, how tired I am, how brief my kids' appearance -- I guarantee I'm loving it!
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