Any activity that your child is involved in, whether sports or academic related (and in this case it’s baseball) is bound to invoke a slight pang of anxiety within the heart of any mom. To sit on the sidelines and watch as your child tries their best and succeeds just sends your heart soaring. Often you almost have to reel in your excitement to keep from yelling out “Yep that’s my kid” as you are bursting with pride at their accomplishment.
But to see them try their best and stumble, tugs at your heart-strings. Watching that look of disappointment spread across their crestfallen face just sends waves of anguish through your body. You know that if they were alone the tears would flow, but they’re not so you watch helpless as they choke back their emotions and try to plod on. All the while you are privy to their disappointment, you are desperately trying to find just the right words to share with them, when the opportunity presents itself, so as to raise up their broken spirit and let them know that they will be ok. You’ll have to wade through the tears, anger, and desire to quit, speaking gently and at the right times so as to let them vent while validating their feelings; but so as to not let their failure define them. You’ll have to comfort and support their efforts, pointing out the positives and encouraging them to use their experience as a mark from which to grow. Then you’ll grab them and hug tight – maybe metaphorically as a way to absorb their pain – because that’s what we as moms do.
April 27, 2016 at 2:58 am
i think moms don’t worry about that so much because sports helps our children have a good health.
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April 27, 2016 at 3:37 am
I will respectfully disagree with you on this one. Despite the fact that I tell all my children to just go out and try their very best, my kids take to heart those moments in which they falter – it’s just their nature. And as their mom I feel for them when they are experiencing what they construe as “failures” – regardless of the fact that what they define as a failure is to me in no way as such. It’s my job as their mom to be supportive and help them look at the bigger picture, and ultimately turn such moments into positives that will ultimately be the foundation for how they deal with challenges in their lives throughout their lives.
I know I am not the only mom who feels as I do as I have heard many moms at various events I have attended (both sporting and academic) expressing sighs of relief and excitement when their child does well and on the flip side expressing verbiage indicative of “feeling for” their child when they have “an off day.”
I don’t discount the benefit of what sports have to offer. This post is reflective on how I, and many of the moms I am around, feel internally as we cheer our children on. It’s not that I am worrying about my children but rather I am reacting to what they are experiencing. Tonight my son, despite his best efforts, walked four batters in his debut inning, let in 2 runs, and ultimately the coach had to make a change for the benefit of the team. My son handled the switch with his head held high but as his mom I could see the furrow in his brow and the look in his eye. And later in the car he had his moment, where his disappointment spilled over and I had to step in and offer him a different perspective from which he could then better process what the actual impact of the nights events was on him.
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April 27, 2016 at 3:05 am
Sport school yourself to be patient. And we have to practice patience if we want to succeed.
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