NFL Draft

Last week Peter Pan and I watched part of the NFL draft.  Peter Pan watched a lot of it actually, and to be truthful I watched more than I should have.  I had a project due in my class and the draft was a great way to procrastinate!  I was interested in parts of it.  I would try to work and then hear something interesting and run back over to watch.  After a long evening I finally got my project done and watched some more of the draft.

Like any good insane sports mom it really got me thinking.  As they discussed each player and his abilities/stats/etc. I thought about my own football player.  My brain started turning and scheming.  Moose can almost do that, he is just milliseconds away from that time in his 40.  He is that tall, he weighs that much.  I started to voice my thoughts to Peter Pan and then I caught myself.  Sure, he is close but not close enough.  He knows it, and to be honest so do I.  He has set his sights on other things after college.  Smart kid that he is, he knows that the stats may look close but they really are so, so far apart.

I think this is the root of sports mom insanity- this inability to be honest about your child's abilities and potential.  Instead of just enjoying and appreciating there athletic pursuits we struggle to push them further and find a better place for them.  Sure Moose may be milliseconds off those NFL players 40 times, but the reality is that seemingly tiny gap is a huge chasm.  There are so many good collegiate athletes, but only a tiny percentage move beyond college sports into professional sports.  Even those who make it aren't always able to stay.

I find this to be true in every aspect of sports.  In skating it is the difference of 1 rotation on a jump that makes all the difference.  Not so much really, but ask any skater and they will tell you how difficult that one rotation is. 

 

So, I am trying to appreciate my wonderful children for who they are right now, not what they may be.  I am blessed to have athletic, intelligent and amazing children.  I am proud to be there slightly insane and annoying Mom!

My Dad

My Dad would have had his 85th birthday this week if he were still with us.  It is still hard for me to really grasp that he isn't sometimes even though it has been 6 years since he died.  It really seems like just yesterday.  I still remember what I was doing when I found out he was gone, I was actually at work and the principal called me to her office.  I didn't even make it in the door because I knew what was wrong and I just sort of broke down.  Then I tried to stay at work and fortunately for me the principal had more sense and made me go home.  

Anyway, for whatever reason, this year I have been thinking a lot about Dad.  This week I was thinking of all he would be proud of.

He would be so proud of all 4 of his grandchildren.  They are all wonderful and amazing people who are fun to be around.  He would be proud of their perserverance and dedication.  I think he would really enjoy sitting and chatting with the wonderful adults they have all grown to be.

He would be proud of Peter Pan for going back to school.  When my Dad retired from the Army he went back to school so he would appreciate what Peter Pan is doing and truly be proud of his hard work.

He would love that Moose chose VMI for his college experience.  I still get tears in my eyes whenever the corps of Cadets parades in at a home game and stands at attention for the National Anthem.  Every single game I wish Dad were there to see it.  I know he would love to see Moose in his uniform and he would have been thrilled beyond measure at Ring Figure.

He would love that Belle has gotten a job in order to pay for skating so she can continue to pursue that dream.  He would have truly appreciated her dedication to her dream and willingness to do whatever it takes to make it a reality.

Of course there are many things he wouldn't be so proud of.  He would be ashamed of the inside of my car and the mess it continually is in.  He took great pride in his car and it was always perfectly clean and shiny.  If you were really lucky he would let you clean the tires.  That was a huge thrill growing up.  I actually blame him on my lack of car cleaning ability- he never let me practice.

If he saw the pile of mail, bills, receipts, etc. in my kitchen he would be mortified.  Dad had a place for everything.  He would come home, eat a snack and make sure that he took care of any mail, bills, receipts, etc.  It was all perfectly organized.  I guess that just isn't genetic (I think it skipped my sister too!)

 

I am pretty certain he wouldn't love that I am the owner of a hedgehog.  I saved the hedgehog from an untimely trip to the SPCA and it seemed like a great class pet idea.  It is not a great pet idea and now I am stuck with it!!!

He would laugh about that though, and also that Bella is the world's second naughtiest dachshund.  The first would be the one we got when I was in 6th grade.  His name was Bismarck, but we just called him Bizy and he was busy and BAD!  He wet everything in the house, bit, growled, and even ate the seatbelts in Dad's prized Porsche (that is a whole different day's story, but just understand that Dad had saved for years to own this car.)  I bet Dad is laughing at Bella and me from heaven even as I type because I am pretty certain God has that sort  of a sense of humor and they are all laughing at my struggles with Bella.  I sort of hope that they are.  Happy birthday Dad!

The One About Moose

Moose turned 21 this week which is a little hard for me to believe.  He isn't going to like being the subject of a blog, but too bad Moose!  Part of enduring labor and delivery means I get to be nostalgic and share it on the internet with all 15 of the people that read this!  Anyway, 21 is most definitely a mile stone birthday for many reasons.  It doesn't seem right that my baby is now legally an adult in every way and can make a beer run for me if I so need it.  This is the kid whose diapers I changed and whose nose I wiped.  When did he grow up?

Moose was almost a Valentine's Day baby and I believe he would have been except my obstetrician was going skiing for the long President's Day holiday weekend so he induced me early.  This caused my sweet boy to arrive on Friday the 13th.  Looking back I am surprised I didn't object to that, but I was so ready to not be pregnant and have my baby in my arms I didn't care.  I don't recall the delivery being to difficult, but then again it has been 21 years.  Peter Pan tells me I was sort of uncooperative and cranky.  I have a lot of responses to that, but I will keep them to myself.  Moose was an easy baby from the moment he arrived and if he was fussy or cranky we knew he needed something.  He was quite content to sit near us in his swing.  He was a decent sleeper and good eater and he had the most precious smile.

By the time he started talking he had already developed a sense of humor.  He called me "Dada" for several months and would laugh every time he said it.  He called Peter Pan by his first name.  From the time he could focus he loved to watch the Celtics.  He would stop playing and crawl to the TV to see them.  To be fair, he loved all basketball on TV.  He also loved driving toy cars.  As he got older he loved superheroes, Spiderman and the Ninja Turtles were his favorites.  He also liked the Power Rangers.  I actually sat through the Power Ranger movie in the theater so Moose could see it.  We also sat through the Pokemon movie for him.  The things parents do for love.

He joined his first team at the age of 4.  It was a basketball team at the YMCA.  He, like all the players, had fun but I don't think they did much playing.  He also played soccer and T-ball that year.  By the time he was old enough he joined a football team and has been playing football ever since.  He also played basketball, baseball and some soccer as he grew up.  His senior year of high school he tried out shot putting and was decent at it.  With some training he might have done all right in that area as well.

He has always loved electronics.  When he was really little he would climb up on my parents bed when we visited and push all the buttons on their alarm clock/radio.  My dad thought it was hilarious.  He was continually reprogramming VCR's and cable boxes and would push any buttons he could.  When he was 3 or 4 we won a Sega Game Gear in a contest and he fell in love.  It traveled all over with us and he played it for hours.  It was the cutest thing!  He could be entertained for a long time with it and it made long car trips much easier.

He was always fun to be around and the kids in the neighborhood enjoyed playing with him, but he was also a good friend.  He often was the peace keeper and he didn't like the games to be interrupted by fighting.  Sometimes he would just come in and complain they were all fighting too much to make it any fun. 

He was a typical big brother and Belle will tell you that he tortured her.  She will also tell you that he had her back, he could pick on her but no one else could.  When he was a junior in high school and she was a freshman he didn't tell most of his friends she was his sister.  He sort of ignored her at school, but it wasn't really a big deal.  Now that they are both in college they seem to get along better.  I love that!

All of this is really just the tip of the iceberg.  There are so many good and funny stories I have stored up.  I won't embarrass him by sharing them.  I just wanted to take a minute and remember my sweet little boy who has grown into a pretty wonderful man.  I got a fantastic Valentine 21 years ago, one I knew I wanted, but not how much.  I am proud of you Moose!!!  Happy Birthday, now will you go pick up a bottle of wine for me? 

Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh

I am not watching the Superbowl.  I am not really a big fan of either team and I have other things I need to do tonight.  I am however completely intrigued with the saga of the Harbaugh brothers.  I can't even begin to imagine what their parents are going through.  Peter Pan and I discussed this earlier today (we went out to eat, more on that in a minute) and we aren't really sure how you would respond.  Do you "divide and conquer" with one parent cheering for one team and the other cheering for the opposite team?  Do you cheer for every play?  It is of course exciting to have your sons coaching both teams at the biggest football event of the year, but the flip side is you know one is going to lose.  I just can't wrap my head around it.  That is the intersting part of the night for me.  I would love to be at their next family gathering, I bet there will be some trash talk.  Jackie Harbaugh you have my sympathy tonight.

Just as a quick update, Peter Pan took me out on a "real date" to a seafood buffet.  He is also not so excited about the Superbowl since the Pats will not be playing.  We had a really good time, but at the end he said, "I don't think this was a real date because all we did was eat!"  Go figure. 

Peter Pan and his Wacky Date Ideas

Peter Pan and I both get paid once a month, right around the first.  So by the end of a month we are always sort of nutso and strapped for cash.  January is even worse because I get paid in December before Christmas and we never plan well enough for the long haul till the end of January.  So by the end of the month we are eating ramen, mac and cheese, and hot dogs.  Well, it isn't really that bad, but you get the idea.  Typically by the beginning of the next month we are so excited to have money we are ready to grocery shop!

Today was that day.  We had decided to go to Sam's Club and stock up for the month.  This may not have been the best idea since we live a very military area and everyone else who got paid yesterday was also at Sam's, plus it is Superbowl weekend so people were loading up on party supplies.  In any case, we headed off to Sam's club with our list and a plan to get Sam's Club hot dogs for a late lunch.

As we were driving there Peter Pan says, "This is like a date."  Really, a what?  I think that may have been my exact response.  If you remember last year he tried to convince me 2 trips to the dump to get rid of our old sofa was a date.  Nope, Sam's Club doesn't qualify as a date!  "Yes," he insisted, "we are together and we are going to eat food, so it is a date."  Ummmm, no, not so much in my mind.

We did our shopping, got our hot dogs, and headed home.  It was sort of fun and we did have some good conversation.  Peter Pan is still convinced it was a date.  I am convinced he needs retraining...

Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

This was on the cover of our most recent Sports Illustrated and it prompted a semi-theological discussion between Peter Pan and me.  Of course at 8:45 on Friday night, after a week of work and school neither of us was particularly erudite (notice how I threw that collegiate sounding word in there for effect!)  Seriously though, our discussion was sort of lame on the whole and ended when Peter Pan proclaimed I was getting "too personal."  We didn't actually answer the question either as we diverged immediately from that topic down a whole different road.  Still, it got me thinking, does God care who wins the Superbowl?

It is quite a provocative question.  If I am honest I have to admit that I have prayed before football games, basketball games, track meets, cross country races, skating competitions, and other events.  I have asked for victory for my children's teams.  So that must mean I believe God has some part in sporting events.  Then again, my prayers haven't always been answered so does that mean he doesn't care?  I don't know.

I do know that God loves my children, my husband, and me.  I know he loves all of us here on Earth.  I know he wants the best for us.  These are truths that I hold dear.  There are plenty of times in my life when I can attest to the hand of God holding and supporting me, comforting me, and caring for me.  Does this care extend to sports?  I just don't know.

This is Not Sports Related (or is it...)

Tuesday was the 90th day of Kindergarten at school.  This was sort of a big deal, although the really big deal is the 100th day.  We count days of school and track them in our classroom.  This serves a very practical purpose, it helps the students practice counting and number skills.  Every 10th day we make a really big deal about "Zero the Hero" as we make a new bundle of straws and move them from the ones pocket on our chart to the tens pocket.  Then we count by tens and have a special math day that focuses on "Zero the Hero."  We have done all sorts of really fun stuff this year to celebrate these 10th days. 

Why is the 90th day so important and special?  Well, as I pointed out to my class, there are 90 straws in the chart that shows how many days we have been in Kindergarten and 90 days in the chart that shows how many days we have left in Kindergarten.  That means that we are HALFWAY through kindergarten.  One of my students actually figured that out himself.  I was pretty impressed with him!!!!!

That means Tuesday was "halftime" for Kindergarten!  It made me realize that even when I am not involved in sports I still think with a "sportsmom" brain.  I divide things into quarters and halves, measurable units, keeping track of movement through them and keeping score.  I compare things.  I have a little log in my brain keeping track of things.  Not important things, just things.

I am not sure this scorekeeping is good.  Well, for Kindergarten it is a fun way to learn to count by 10's.  If you look at the rest of my life maybe I need to let some scorekeeping go.  I don't need to track every detail, every time frame, and remember them for ever.  I am starting to see that some of this made me the insane sportsmom that I am.  A little less scorekeeping and a little more enjoyment is in order.  I need to appreciate the moment, not try to assimilate into the context of some bizarre score keeping system that makes no sense to anyone but me.  That is my new goal, to give up the scorekeeping and enjoy life.  Call me next week and see how I am doing with it.