Play Ball

Driving home from church today I asked the boys what I should write about today - "Nothing" was the first response but then they said how about playing sports. With 4 kids that take after their Mom- haha, sports have been a part of our lives.

How cute are little 5 year olds running en mass after a soccer ball - pretty darn cute! But we knew we had to pace ourselves - 4 kids, 3 sports season, not including summer could equal a lot of sports. So before we got swept up and started signing contracts Cam and I decided "how much sports" was a good thing for our family.

We came to the conclusion that 1 sport per season was plenty. We tried to find leagues that focused on team building more than winning and we wanted our kids to try many different sports - they didn't have to play forever but they had to finish the season. And if we could get multiple children on the same team - all the better - our chances were good, since they are all 2 years apart and we were able to do this for number of sports and when they swam - all 4 could be on the same team.

Then as heredity would have it we got that fateful phone call - Megan has been selected for the travel softball team
- in additional to the regular team. New territory for us. We asked a lot of questions and decided that the extra time, money and focus on just one child didn't fit into our families values.
Was she crushed?
Disappointed?
In need of therapy?
None of the above - we told her how nice it was to be asked, but in the end, she was still playing softball - we just weren't driving 200 miles to do so.

By the time kids reach jr. high - a wonderful thing happens - school sports! Where they stay after to practice and play games -  no extra nights out, no driving and it's free! There is one catch - you have to make the team, but the good thing is, there are plenty of options - not just sports, but the arts, clubs, etc. There was even an "Amazing Race" club where they sat around and watched reruns of the show - really!

We had the same rule for school sports - only one, if you made the school team, no community team, but if you didn't make the school team we would scramble to get you signed up for the community team or encouraged you to get involved in another activity.

And let's not underestimate the value of unorganized sports - playing tag in the backyard, jumping on the trampoline, getting crushed in badminton by your mom!

This has worked for our family - sports are a part of who we are, not the whole thing. I want my kids to love God first, others second and have fun third. If all we focused on was sports, it would be hard to fit the other 2 in. And the older they have gotten, they have zoned in on a few things and doing those few things well. We have been able to be at their games, concerts, art shows, etc. because there wasn't a gazillion of them. It is fun to see who God has made them to be and how He has gifted them to serve Him - and for us - it always makes cents!