Skip to main content

Another round of kids who are about to start their next chapter are cycling through here on HSBBW and this year my kid is one of them. This chapter for him happens to begin at a 4-year college (starting in less that a month and a half) and I find myself in an interesting frame of mind as it pertains to baseball. I simply will be fine with whatever happens. Gone are the feelings of baseball being a dominant part of his identity and an absolutely essential part of our lives. He's becoming his own man and it's fun to watch. He's going away knowing he will have to compete for playing time; and it won't be an easy competition while juggling all of the other aspects of being away from home, trying to achieve academically, and with the uncertainty that comes from returning from injury/surgery. He has persevered through quite a few challenges and I wouldn't be surprised if this was another one. I'm certain that as he has matured, so have we as parents and the result of that is a calm desire to watch him pursue his goals and his happiness, albeit from mostly afar, whatever that ends up looking like. If he gets some starts behind the dish then great, I'll be there. If not, and baseball isn't in the picture for him this time next year, or the year after that, then it's been a great run. I'm actually more excited about some of the other things he has on the roadmap than I am about baseball, but don't tell anyone.

I'm wondering if anyone else has felt similarly? Maybe it's because I got used to feeling on the outside during his extensive rehab but I almost feel like I'm growing up a little.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Son just took his official this past weekend.  Got back.  One of the things he said.  "There were a couple 2019's there taking a summer class and working out.  One of them was short and built like a twig."  I replied "Yeah I looked him up.  He touched 94 last summer."

One take away I had from his visit.  I won't know a damn thing that happens unless I read it in the box score.  He won't text / call for nothing. 

We'll be pulling for him, Tequila, whether it be baseball or whatever it is that he pursues hardest in the coming years.  

Yeah, I think, like you, son's (un)timely injury really shifted perspective in a hurry for Dad.  It didn't seem like it at the time but, in hindsight, it was shifted in a really good way.  Every baseball moment thereafter was gravy and what didn't happen didn't matter.  

It's exciting for sure, among other emotions, and definitely a time of rapid change; in many ways the kid who comes home from college after his or her first year is not the same person you packed off to school in September. Big changes for the parents too, and they can be very difficult.   Unlike a lot of us, sounds like you have your head screwed on right, at least in terms of the baseball stuff, so you should be fine.  Agreed that every inning from here on is gravy, but still, just thinking about it, I'm excited about my son's school's 2020 season and can't wait to see the lineup and watch the  first pitch.

Remember when your kid was twelve or thirteen and started asserting his independence? Going off to college is phase two. Your son will tell you how it’s going. You’ll ask questions. He’ll respond in grunts.

It seemed whenever I called my son was in the library or on his way to the library. So I finally asked him if he actually went to the library. The response? 

“Of course! It’s where the girls go to study.”

 

Last edited by RJM

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×