Sports

The closest thing I did to sports during my school career was band front. My husband played one season of T-ball when he was young. We are not a sports family. If it weren't for my daily dose of NPR that usually throws in 5 minutes of sports, I would never even know who is in the Superbowl, etc. My husband never knows. All of that said, because we are Americans, we feel some compelling urge to involve our kids in sports.

Tonight we took the boys to their first Upward basketball practice of the season. JT played last year. He loved it. They are a group that doesn't worry about the score or who is winning, the kids just play and have a good time. This year we signed up EM, as well. I spent the first 30 minutes of EM's practice trying to convince him to let go of my leg and play with the other kids. He would say things like, "Why did you sign me up for this?" (He asked me to.) "Mom, I'm just not used to being around other kids." (Quick look around to make sure no other parents are thinking about socialization.) "Why do I have to do this?" (Don't ask me, I'm not sure myself!)

I saw a basketball near us, so I gave it to him and asked him to do what the other kids were doing without leaving my side. Then I started walking towards the team. When he was close enough, I ran off to my seat again. He was perfectly happy and had fun. No harm done. He is not scarred for life.

JT had his practice next. They are in two different age groups, so we have 2 practices in a row. When you are not a sports person, it's hard to get excited about all this time you will spend sitting in the gym waiting. Good thing I love to read...