NC DAD
<<<At Team One South Mac Seibert from the Devils Rays spoke about parents and kids at the showcase. I don't recall his exact wording but he got his point across.
1-Does a win or loss effect your relationship with your child.
2-Does your child's performance effect the way you speak or feel about your child. (I could be a little off on this one).
3- Is it your dream or your child's dream.>>>
I understand what Seibert is trying to say, but it isn't always as simple as those questions.
It is my opinion that God has given each one of us certain talents. In each family the members each have talents that they first display through their own set of interest. Most parents recognize this in their children, but every parent knows that if you don't help guide, direct and yes, push your child, most of them are not centered enough to stick with any one thing long enough to get good at it.
Then you have the problem that what ever they settle on, whether it be playing the flute, or the clarinet, or playing baseball...it starts to become part of them and part of their identification to others around them.
They get discouraged and it is our job as parents to buck them up. That doesn't mean you're trying to run their lives, but it does mean that you respect them enough to help them overcome their fear of failure. It is one of the most prevalent reasons why children quit an activity...fear of failure.
So now I am not disagreeing with Seibert as much as defining my position with the simple parameters he's set down as warning markers.