** Disclaimer: I LOVE FATHERS. Awesome dads make up most of the population of men I know. This is not meant to bash fatherhood. Dadliness is one of the most amazing attributes I can possibly observe. End Disclaimer. **
I had this friend in High School – we’ll call him Ryan, because that’s his name. He played baseball. He liked it, and he was good at it, and it’s a good thing, because his dad would never have let him quit. Never. His dad was, as far as we could tell in our High School Haze, living his own baseball dreams through his kid. Which, fine.
Today my sophomores gave presentations where they told nine truths and one lie about themselves and FOUR of them in one class talked about doing a sport that they HATE because their dad makes them.
This is what I said.
“!”
and
“?”
and
“Huh?”
Because, really? This was one kid’s lie: “I love playing football,” and I could tell by the strain in his voice that he was lying. I’ve known him for very few days. In fact, he’s spoken aloud very seldom in my presence. But I could TELL.
This is weird, this number (I hope). It represents one out of eight kids in that section. ONE OUT OF EIGHT kids in that class “have to” play a sport that they admittedly dislike. Maybe that’s not weird. Maybe I’m the weird one. Maybe the reason my kids aren’t elite athletes is that I don’t make them play sports they don’t love. Or it could be genetics. Either way, we’re not elite. At all. And I’m okay with that.
So what if my kids hated school? I’d still make them go. What if my kids hated writing? Okay, I hear you. (Some of them claim that they do, but they’re so good at it that I just nod and stand back and gasp in wonder at their blog posts and tweets and Instagram tags.) What if my kids didn’t want to attend church? Yeah, I think I’d make them. Maybe I need to look at high school sports as a form of religious worship. Heaven knows I wouldn’t be alone in that mindset. I grew up in Indiana, remember?
What do you think? Am I missing something? Or is this “I hate this sport” conversation just a step in growing up that hasn’t happened yet?
(2) Comments for this blog
My philosophy is that if my child wants to try something new (sport, music, dance, etc) I sign them up and make them commit to the year or season to follow through. But I don’t sign them up again if they don’t want to.
Of course, that’s after I forced my firstborn to stay in karate a year longer than she wanted to because she was so close to her black belt. After a year of no progress, I realized the error of my ways and let her pursue volleyball. She ended up being the team captain het senior year and is now a high school volleyball coach. I say, let them follow their own drams and create the life they want!
You are an awesome mom and great teacher Miss Becca!
My philosophy is that if my child wants to try something new (sport, music, dance, etc) I sign them up and make them commit to the year or season to follow through. But I don’t sign them up again if they don’t want to.
Of course, that’s after I forced my firstborn to stay in karate a year longer than she wanted to because she was so close to her black belt. After a year of no progress, I realized the error of my ways and let her pursue volleyball. She ended up being the team captain het senior year and is now a high school volleyball coach. I say, let them follow their own drams and create the life they want!
You are an awesome mom and great teacher Miss Becca!