| Oh, man, Bandman... wanna tell me about it?
Max has been in baseball since he was a wee one and I'd love to take back certain days in both our lives. You watch them play and there's a flow about their play and when something interrupts that flow it's not unusual to react a certain way. Sometimes it's negative and the words are out of your mouth before you can stuff them back in. The good thing is the great majority of what we say is overwhelmingly positive.
Then there are the days we just ache for them. What can we do? If we pretend nothing happened that mattered to them we lose credibilty. If we agree with them when they say they stink we're not helping them deal with perspective. Man, what a balancing act.
Here's what happened today: he was asked to pitch, as a junior varsity player, for the Varsity team! Guess who had to tell the coach and remind Max that he has a dress rehearsal on Saturday and can't take advantage of the ONE time this season he can strut his stuff for the Varsity team.?
Yup... dear ol' dad.
I could see how angry he was as he threw his stuff into the equipment bag. His coach was disappointed, too. But what could I do? His first commitment is to the orchestra as their schedule is printed first and not subject to last minute invitations.
I guess what I'm saying is that it's not just a game. There's so much that learn about dealing with life through athletics, music... you name it. We just happen to be two musicians talking about kids in athletics. My son learned a first lesson in commitment. Your daughter learned several things: that when her performance changes suddenly, people will notice. She also knows what she's always known and that's how much her papa loves her, no matter what.
What a ride this all is... we live for the easy days and hold our breath on the tough days. G-d help us try not to mess up too much.
Funny... one dad in Minneapolis and another in Louisiana and all the others in between sharing the same joys and concerns. Hang in there, Dave and I will, too.
ML |