@3and2Fastball posted:My take on this is different. Relatively speaking, it is NOT that hard.
Being 18 and shipped off to World War II is hard. Living in extreme poverty is hard. Living during the Great Depression was hard.
Kids these days, in general, are soft. Extremely soft. Prior to the pandemic, the softest generation of All Time, and that left them completely unprepared mentally for any adversity from the pandemic.
And, parents and kids have in general unrealistic expectations as to just how great they are or how easy the road will be, and in my opinion this is fueled by the completely over the top bizarre travel ball industry that is driven overwhelmingly by the money from the families of slightly better than mediocre talent.
”My kid hit a Double in 16U against a Ole Miss commit = if he just gets a chance he can be a 3rd or 4th round pick” and “a scout told him he’s got a nice swing” kind of thing. * And hey, look, looking back I fell into that trap myself from time to time when my son was in high school! *
My son got 5 at bats as a freshman. At a D3. In a lower level D3 conference. Now as a sophomore so far he’s still not starting but has appeared in all but one game so far.
He’s getting a huge percentage of school paid for at a great academic institution. He’s making close close friends with his teammates. He’s learning what hard work truly is. He is one of the kings of campus in terms of female attention etc. He’s getting a very good education. His spring break trip to Florida was a blast: 9 games in 7 days, a day off for sightseeing, complete trip paid for, great food, sunshine etc…
Its not exactly hard times in a soup line…
I grew up in a different state from where I live now and where my kids were born. I'm also one of those older dads. I was almost 40 and almost 42 when my kids were born. (Wife is much younger than me.) So, I grew up in a different place and time.
When my kids were young, we took them on a tour of where I grew up. Stuff like "This was my first house growing up" and "This was my middle school."
When the kids saw how far the middle school was from the house, they asked me how I got there and I said "I walked."
Hearing that, my son, who was around 10 at the time asked: "Grandma let you walk THAT FAR to school?"
And, my answer without hesitation was: "No. Grandma MADE ME walk that far to school."
Kids are different these days. But, a lot of that is because of how the parents treat them.