Sports!

So that posting thing I was planning hasn't actually been going as planned. Shocking. I know. Or possibly not shocking at all.

Yes, that one.

I signed up for Miss Zoot's prompts for November and have read each one and thought about posting and have done... nothing. Sorry Kim. You are doing all that work and I'm doing nothing. Doesn't seem fair.

Today's rockin' suggestion is Sports. And anyone who has ever met me, seen me on any social media, or had the unfortunate opportunity to smell my children knows - we do sports. Well, I don't do sports. That's just silly. I attend my children's sporting events. Mostly. And I drive them back and forth to practices and games/meets/tournaments.

My oldest, Alex, limited his serious sporting activities to baseball and soccer. He was a three season soccer player and a 2 season baseball player (with lessons during the off season). So there was overlap. The one rule I made when the kids were little - ONE SPORT - PER CHILD - PER SEASON. Broken. Baseball being his lifelong passion has taught me to enjoy the sport more than I did before but in general, I'm not a fan. I will watch my children play but, yeah, that's it. Now that he's in college he plays on a recreational soccer team and a rec softball team at the school and he played on a rec baseball team over the summer. I only went to one baseball game and haven't been to any of the others. I will say, he misses playing competitively and has been in talks with the college baseball coach but he's not playing for them yet.

Tyler, is my second son. My most competitive son (where sports are concerned). And my most focused son. He has taken gymnastics (until 6th grade to play soccer - see rule above), golf, ski team, and is a four season soccer player (RULE BROKEN). He gave up all other sports competitively to focus on soccer and has been killing it. Unfortunately, now he's in college and the competition is tough.  He has been so close to making various college teams during the application process last year but he just missed. It is heartbreaking as a parent. He is playing on an intramural team and a rec team at school and he still has a shot for next year. I believe he begins training with the team soon so we will see.

Now that those two are out of the house, the sports schedules have let up and NOW my junior in high school has decided to pick up a new sport. NOW. So this is the year I learn about how the swim team does things. Dylan has tried various sports over the years. Wrestling, soccer (off and on), lacrosse, tennis and now swimming. He's hoping to get back to tennis this year too. But overall he's never been a big sports kid. He seems to prefer individual sports to team sports. I think he may be pretty serious about swimming though because he has been getting up at FIVE-FORTY-FIVE for weeks to swim before school. Before the regular season started. This is a kid that likes his sleep. The season started yesterday. It should be interesting. Also, I need to figure out how to hold a team breakfast for 30 at my house in the coming months. I've chaperoned the varsity baseball team's Myrtle Beach trip for two years for Alex. That was cooking and shopping (my God the shopping!) for approximately 30 but it wasn't in my house. The things you learn that you never imagined sports will teach you.

It's the youngest, Zach, that may be the death of me though. He's a two season soccer player, baseball player, and ski team racer. He also joins every club known to man and now that he's in high school he's doing even more. This kid is a serious overachiever. He's hoping to play premier soccer but I'm making him wait because there is just not enough time in the day.

So what has all this taught me? The least athletic person on the planet. The person who didn't expect any of her children to play sports. Sports can be good. The kids' grades tend to be better during sport seasons. They form strong friendships and develop healthy habits in regards to exercise and nutrition. And you need to take out a second mortgage to feed them when they are playing.