Father's Day!

Those acquainted with me know that I was always a Daddy's Girl and he was one of the few 'girl dads' of his day. In fact, I still try to parent and grandparent as much like he did as I can. He was honorable and honest, lovable and loving, respectable and respecting, wise and inspirational. Not only did he love us without measure, he also measured us with love. We had our differences as any parent and child do. Yet, he taught me that it is possible to disagree and still have a solid, wonderful, respectful relationship with others. 

I think I have always known how lucky I was to be born his daughter and how fortunate I was to live and be where I was and have the opportunities that he and my mother provided. He often reminded my sister and I of that in words but more often did so in deeds. 

I also had the good fortune to marry a man who is a wonderful father and grandfather. He is fun-loving and fun, lovable and loving, wise and inspirational, supportive and supporting of his own children and for mine as well. Mike is one who also loves our children and grandchildren without measure but also measures their accomplishments with love. There are high expectations but perfection is not one of those expectations.

On this Father's Day I feel ultra-fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to watch the father's of our grandchildren as they guide their own children toward independence and adulthood. I see my own father and husband reflected in each of them in some ways but I also see them navigating new adventures along their journey that are far different from the ones Mike and my Daddy could have ever imagined. 

I know that Father's Day may not mean the same thing to everyone that it does to me and that everyone is not so fortunate as to have a father like mine. However, I also know that there is a male in everyone's life who he/she looks up to at times like these and I hope you have a little time today to reflect on the positives of that male impact in your life and make plans to have that positivity shine through for somebody else.

Boys and Girls of Summer - Part 6

It takes a village.  When one member of the family is involved in a team sport, there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to make that team member be all that he or she can be as Boys and Girls of Summer.

When Levi and Easton signed up for T-ball, Bonnie and her dad were shepherding little fellows during practices while Stephen was running the family store.  Then, during many of the games, Bonnie was the dugout mom getting players' helmets on, helping them with their gloves, handing them their bat, tying shoes, wiping sand out of their eyes, and countless other tasks. (Sorry I didn't get a photo of a very pregnant dugout mom doing her duties!)  

When not playing or coaching in games of their own, family members sit in the stands to cheer for the ones who are playing and coaching.  Sometimes that might be just an aunt and a couple of cousins and sometimes it is an entire entourage.  

 

One grandpa sends money for snacks and colorful sports drinks to take to the park when he is in the hay field and Paw Paw makes trips to the concession stand for sweet treats. Mawmaw and Granny provide wet wipes to clean up the drips from snacks or hold a snow cone so you can get that last sweet slurp.  Grand B makes photos to capture the memories and heckles the coach in a loving manner.  

Sometimes one has to offer to serve as dugout mom to encourage a friend to be the coach.  Sometimes the other coach might be at another game coaching his older child's team.  And even when one doesn't know how on earth to hit the ball toward positions and just feels lucky to toss it up and hit it at all - at least she knows to get a good assistant coach who can!  Then, she just concentrates on positioning the batter knowing from hours at batting lessons that penguins can't hit but ducks can. This is when Moms and Dads step in to coach or provide support so that there can even be a team to take the field.  

Sometimes it requires suiting up the catcher.  Sometimes it requires finding a good chest protector to go with your own child's shin guards and gathering up extra gloves so the team can have full gear.  Sometimes it is just those hours of playing catch or pitching to a batter in the back yard.

Sometimes it is a matter of making certain everybody's team shirt is clean, and uniforms are laid out at ready, and littles get naps for a late night game.

Sometimes the most important thing is packing plenty of trucks for everybody on the sidelines to play in the gravel. 

Sometimes the toughest job is keeping up with the snacks, the stroller, and the drinks.  And sometimes the toughest job is keeping quiet when there is chaos.

Sometimes it means showing up a little late because finishing up that last patch of mowing or the store closing time is the same time as first pitch.  Then, arriving just in time to see your little player standing on the base after a big hit.

Yes, sometimes it takes the entire village to keep all these little athletes and their teams going.  What goes on in the back yard, outside the fence, in the laundry room, in the kitchen, and behind the scenes is equally as important as what happens between the chalk lines.  I'm sorry I don't have photos of each step, task, person, and job input to keep the teams going.  Ah! Boys and Girls of Summer! Aren't we fortunate to have such opportunities?

Another coach in the family?

Back when the days were still chilly and the skies were grey and there were no leaves on the trees, a certain little fellow signed up to play a little T-Ball.  This grandmother asked his dad whether he was planning to help coach and got this as a response, "I think I'm going to just watch and see how things go. It might not be the same here as it was where I grew up playing and I can learn how things are done here this year."  This grandmother smiled.

Then, ball practice started.  This little fellow had a bit of early coaching at home from dad.  So, he sort of knew a wee bit about what to do on the ball field. 

However, when all of the team gets together, that back-yard coaching sometimes flies out the window and chaos ensues!  Players rolling in the grass, fighting one another for the ball, and other general preschool fun takes over.  So, even though there is a head-coach and an assistant coach, other auxiliary coaches are needed to step up. 

When this grandmother asked the ball player's dad how practice went and called him Coach Dad, I was immediately corrected with, "I'm not coaching, Mom.  I just help out a little bit during practice."  Once again, this grandmother just smiled.

Call it what you may.  But, I think I see Coach Dad out there on that field giving a little instruction and playing catch with the team.

Look at that pair in the background.  I'd bet somewhere in there is a phrase about squaring up your feet and your shoulders as you face the ball.

Now, I know Coach Dad feels a responsibility toward this player as seen in the background but I really had a little suspicion that the coaching didn't stop there.

Somehow, I really believed the coaching went a wee bit beyond this player and improving his fielding and his batting. You know, maybe Coach Dad might be helping some of the other little sluggers as well as our own favorite.

Maybe it was just a gut feeling on my part.  Somehow, in my mind, I kind of thought the other little players might be getting just a wee bit of Coach Dad's coaching as well.  But, this grandmother just smiled as Coach Dad protested.  Then, the first game came along...

I called to find out how things went and talked to Coach Dad.  I was told that our little slugger walloped the ball!  This grandmother just smiled and listened to all the details.

I asked how the ballgame went when the little players were executing defense and who was out in the field with them during that time.  The response went something like this, "Gosh, Mom.  We all were out there.  It was just chaos.  There were three or four of us standing in the field with them and nudging them into positions and telling them to get baseball ready. Then, the batter would hit the ball and we would have to tell some of them to stay near a base or to go cover home plate and nudge them in that direction.  It was sort of like a three-ring-circus.  They would fight over the ball and everybody ran after the runner no matter whether they had the ball or not. Then, it was nudging them back into position to get ready all over again for the next batter and be baseball ready...  It was a lot like herding cats!"  And this grandmother just smiled.

I asked about a couple of our little slugger's friends whose names I could recall.  Coach Dad's response was, "Aw, she did pretty well.  She has a lot to learn but she is just the sweetest little thing!"  And this grandmother just smiled.

So, I said, "Sounds like Coach Dad is doing a pretty good job." And the response I got was, "I'm NOT coaching, Mom.  I'm just helping out a little bit."  And this grandmother just smiled.

Me thinks he doth protest too much. 

We are glad to have another coach in the family!

Coaching

Coaching is a part of my job and, to be honest, has been for the entire time I've been in the education business.  Basically, what all teachers need to be doing is coaching students to learn.  Well, recently, another family member entered the world of coaching.

Our granddaughter, Lydia, informed her mother that she would play basketball in the recreation league again this year but only if her Mom served as her coach.  So, of course, Bridgette agreed.

We have been hearing tales of her experiences and how the young girls - second and third graders - are learning and growing as athletes.  Now, for those of you who don't know our daughter, Bridgette, you may not realize that she takes things seriously.  She is competitive and she doesn't mess around.  When she does something she intends to do it right.  By taking on a responsibility, she is All-In. 

So, the tales we have been having in regard to her coaching these children who are between the ages of six and nine, we have chuckled a few times.  You see, Bridgette also played recreation league basketball when she was about the age of her daughters.  I want to think she started at about sixth grade.  There were not enough coaches for the number of girls who signed up to play in the community league.  So, the mother-in-charge of coordinating the league asked a co-worker, an accountant who was a newlywed with no children of his own to coach a team.  There was only one girl who had played on a recreation team before.  The rest of the girls were newbies like Bridgette.  So, the team was probably a group of misfits and unknowns - a basketball team of Bad News Bears.  Coach Dan did a great job of teaching the girls plays, working on developing skills, and, really, just teaching them a bit about the game of basketball.  They didn't win a single game during the season.  Yet, they played and had a big time and they learned and grew as athletes and young women.  When the county tournament came along, this team of misfits and unknowns won game after game and wound up in the finals.  Sadly, they lost their last game, primarily because two of the girls fouled out - Bridgette was one of them.  Along the way, Coach Dan was amazingly patient with them and he and his wife became lifelong family friends.  We still chuckle at times over things that happened in practice and those games. 

Advance the clock about twenty-five years and Bridgette has found herself in the shoes of her former coach.  Her team was assembled by a blind draft.  Most of the girls have never played on a team before and those who have are not little girls who have played with older brothers or sisters all their lives and know the game - far from it!  So, Bridgette has found herself saying many of the things we chuckled about over the years - things like, "Dribble.  The.  Ball!"

From the first practice, these little girls have learned drills to develop their dribbling, passing, and shooting skills.  Bridgette claims she even told another coach, "We aren't here to just play around.  We are going to learn the game of basketball!"  (He spent his first practice allowing the girls to do some loose shooting and play around a bit in order to get to know one another.) 

If the little girls have had half as much fun as Bridgette, the venture has been a success!  Bridgette seems so pleased with their progress and when we went to their first game Saturday morning, it was obvious that they had learned some plays and had practiced rebounding.  Oh, there is still lots to be learned by these little athletes as was evidenced by their losing score but on another day, the numbers could easily have been reversed, I think.

Throughout the game, Coach Bridgette is clapping, cheering, encouraging, reminding, and, well, coaching.  Even when one little girl fouled out before the end of the game, she was complimenting her for going after the ball and for being aggressive. 

During a break between quarters, she asked the girls, "Who wants to score some points?"  Hands went up all down the row of hydrating little girls.  So, Coach Bridgette said, "Well, let's get out there and get some rebounds, go down the floor, and shoot!"

Mike and I have teased Bridgette and told her that she is trying to be the next Pat Head Summit!  You know, her intensity is almost measurable and her eagerness to motivate and prepare the little girls is quite admirable.  Even at the end of the game when she and her family were on the road to another gym for Lillie to play her game, Bridgette confessed to us that she was already thinking of what they would do at the next practice and how she needs to guide them differently and plan for the next game.  She thinks she needs to add some options and knows that there are a few things that need to be tweaked.

I think Pat would be proud.  I'm pretty certain Coach Dan would be.  And, I know that Mike and I certainly are! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a wish from my mother's beautiful roses to you by way of my waterlogue app!

(This is  a zoom of  the actual photo.)

Hope you and your mother have a wonderful day together.  

I fully intend to enjoy some time with mine!