Dad Attending Son's HS Games

Iowamom23 posted:

I attended most of my son's games. During one busy time at work, I took my laptop and worked during the games using a hot spot. After a few games, my son came to me and said "mom, if you don't have time to come to my games, don't come. Either be there, or don't."

Ouch.

Dropped the laptop and when I got there, I was there, and when I missed, I knew he understood.

I also became the go to texter for parents who couldn't get there, sharing inning-by-inning updates from games. Pretty ironic considering my first job in journalism was as a sports writer for my hometown paper, and I got fired.

IowaMom you rock!  

I made every one of my sons HS games home and away, playoffs every year included. There were a handful of summer/fall TB games that I missed in the four HS years, but a small handful, probably less than five. 

College I'll make most all of the home games and probably over 50% away. 

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   I unfortunately had to miss a few of my 2019 games this summer in Atlanta.  Just couldn't miss that much work.    Interesting side note to this is I had to send him off by himself several times to LakePoint this summer....about a 2 1/2 hour drive from home.  He survived ATL traffic.   I was looking at his upcoming senior highschool season and have told myself I cannot miss any games this season.  So I have already started planning when I am going to be sick, etc... for work.  He has a stretch mid season of 8 games in 8 days.....with 5 of those games spread out over 4 days, four hours from our home in a different city.      Luckily my boss has an older son who played sports in highschool who  told me to savor every minute and don't miss a thing for his senior season.  

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

CTbballDad posted:

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

Why am I picturing a little red wagon ??

CTbballDad posted:

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

Oh, it's a scene. But, no wagon - red, or, any other color!

I've got my folding chair, my camera bag, and my backpack (with assorted stuff) and my cooler - when you're allowed to bring in coolers. And, on days where it looks like rain, I have my golf umbrella. I sort of look like a mule lugging all my stuff.

I was at all my third son's game so far since I was HC the first two years and made every game this year.  I know I will miss one this year going to watch the middle son coach college ball and help him with a tournament.  College ball was difficult with my middle son because younger son played travel at the same time so we had to split and mom went with the middle son. 

My son's future PC told me don't miss a game if you can help it.  His son plays MLB as a pitcher and he did not get to see him throw a pitch live this year.  He was able to watch on TV and talk to him.  I told him then help a fellow out and make sure he is throwing Friday or Saturday since I am a pastor and Sundays are not good to miss.

I think as a parent you do your best and the games you can't be at you ask lots of questions and make sure your kids know where your heart is.

2022OFDad posted:

Francis, I would not take the responses on this website as being typical of a “common dad.” The parents who come to this site are at a different level than the common parent. That’s not a bad thing, but you can tell that we all take it a little more seriously than the rest.

Francis, yes, this exactly... in fact, there are at least two strong biases at work here.  One is the one 2022OFdad mentions... a particularly involved group on this site.  Another is that, within that group, those who are able to attend with some regularity are far more likely to respond to your OP than those who are not.

Also, I can relate to CTBballdad's post... when relying on my wife to relay play-by-play there were two entirely different languages in play.  And I'm not just talking about between she and I (but mostly that).  There were times when I've had my wife and other parents texting me updates/highlights of in-game action at the same time... often, entirely different versions.  Let's just say she really likes to socialize.  She would NEVER be accused of being the overly involved mom    It was sometimes frustrating at the time... quite humorous looking back.

When one of the sons went off to play in college, regular attendance was not feasible, although we certainly made as many trips as we could.  When he transferred to the other side of the country, this became much less doable.  But everyone adjusts.  And it made those few trips all the more special.

I saw all the games I could/wanted too and missed those I had comittments or wasn't interested in because of travel and they were playing weak teams. I guess I watched 85‰ plus of his HS games. TB was another thing altogether. Kid was a strong player so he was sought after. Put him in a car and waved goodbye many times. Thank god for Game Changer. College, saw one of his games last year. This year we have seven B10 campuses within reasonable driving distance to us and he plays at one of them. B10 network on the roku and BTN Plus on the phone. 

My husband missed one game in middle school, and my son hit his first home run ever.  I don't think he has missed 5 minutes since.  The silver lining:  Because he wasn't there, I was videotaping 

My work is a little less flexible, but I'm going to do all that I can to make as many games as possible these last two years of HS.  

I will second what others have said.

I get a text "he got a hit. On 2nd". So I'll call...

Me: got a double huh

wife: yeah I guess, he's on 2nd

me: ground ball or through the air

wife: ground ball.... or maybe fly ball, hold on (talking in the background) fly ball

me: pop up, line drive, or long fly

wife: long fly.... or pop up, hold on (talking in the background) long fly

me: who are you talking to 

wife: Josh's dad

me: could you please hand your phone to him

HomeField2020 posted:

My husband missed one game in middle school, and my son hit his first home run ever.  I don't think he has missed 5 minutes since.  The silver lining:  Because he wasn't there, I was videotaping 

My work is a little less flexible, but I'm going to do all that I can to make as many games as possible these last two years of HS.  

My wife missed my son's first two homer game in travel.  Of course, I got beautiful video of both and could share it with her.  She also missed his first ever 60/90 homer.  But, I got some great video on that one.  IF I get this job, I sincerely believe that I will miss his first ever HS homer.  And, I also believe that my wife will not get it on video.  Getting it on video, correctly, is an acquired skill 

Francis if you get the new job with the big raise you won't be able to create so many subjects for us to comment on.... crazy guy. 

If she gets it on video correctly or incorrectly you should say thank you dear.  I really appreciate that.  We had a friend who did a lot of my son's travel ball games and her skills were somewhat lacking but she would give us play by play for the parents she knew were watching.  I remember one game when she was videoing behind home plate and my son was playing LF.  There was a ball hit out of the infield and on the screen it pretty much disappeared.  After all the hollering and whooping she calmly said your son just made a diving play in LF and turned a triple play because the runners on first and second thought he would not catch it.  I never saw it but had to say thank you for what I had because I could at least have a conversation about it with my son after the game.  Without her, I would have probably got from my son I did ok. 

PitchingFan posted:

If she gets it on video correctly or incorrectly you should say thank you dear.  I really appreciate that.  We had a friend who did a lot of my son's travel ball games and her skills were somewhat lacking but she would give us play by play for the parents she knew were watching.  I remember one game when she was videoing behind home plate and my son was playing LF.  There was a ball hit out of the infield and on the screen it pretty much disappeared.  After all the hollering and whooping she calmly said your son just made a diving play in LF and turned a triple play because the runners on first and second thought he would not catch it.  I never saw it but had to say thank you for what I had because I could at least have a conversation about it with my son after the game.  Without her, I would have probably got from my son I did ok. 

Agreed.  Any video/sound is better than missing it completely.

Gov posted:

Francis if you get the new job with the big raise you won't be able to create so many subjects for us to comment on.... crazy guy. 

LOL.  Yeah, there's THAT too.  But, I doubt many/most will miss me.

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Any of you ***** call me Francis I’ll hafta kill ya. And don’t touch any ah ma stuff! 

https://youtu.be/IMtvnAmfuf8

DesertDuck posted:

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Be careful.  My real name is Frank Castle.  

SomeBaseballDad posted:

I will second what others have said.

I get a text "he got a hit. On 2nd". So I'll call...

Me: got a double huh

wife: yeah I guess, he's on 2nd

me: ground ball or through the air

wife: ground ball.... or maybe fly ball, hold on (talking in the background) fly ball

me: pop up, line drive, or long fly

wife: long fly.... or pop up, hold on (talking in the background) long fly

me: who are you talking to 

wife: Josh's dad

me: could you please hand your phone to him

A friend was out of town and his son was pitching, and his mother-in-law was at the game. Part of the way through he called his mother-in-law and, after establishing the score and inning, they had this exchange:

Dad: How's he look?

Mother-in-Law: Oh, he looks really cute. I love the white uniforms.

Francis7 posted:

DesertDuck posted:

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Be careful.  My real name is Frank Castle.  

That's the truth !  You have been punishing all of us !!

Son #1...probably watched 50% overall, which is really good because I would be coaching S2, and would often have conflicts. The best times were when BOTH games were at the same complex...I'd have the kids from my youth team sneak over and let me know what was going on. Still remember a kid coming over say,"He hit a triple!" in a particularly close game.

  S1 is now at college, and I have yet to see a game. It's well over 1000 mi. away. Might do it next year for the playoffs, if they make them. I can see most of them on a Youtube channel.

  S2 still likes me coaching him (he'll be a Freshman HS'er this year). S1 told me to go away when he  was 14yo. He's very independent, and self reliant. S2 still takes comfort from my presence, but next year will be the time the apron strings will be cut(16yo). 

   IMHO, a lot of parents out there SHOULD take a few games off watching, and give their kids a break from the pressure that they can sometimes put their child under. The people who really know what they are doing (i.e. former players ), almost never shout instructions from the stands during games at their kids...only know nothings do. Some of the things I hear from parents blow my mind. They couldn't sabotage their kids any better if they tried.

adbono posted:

Francis7 posted:

DesertDuck posted:

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Be careful.  My real name is Frank Castle.  

That's the truth !  You have been punishing all of us !!

Ha! Best line of the year!

adbono posted:

Francis7 posted:

DesertDuck posted:

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Be careful.  My real name is Frank Castle.  

That's the truth !  You have been punishing all of us !!

Well played Sir!

Francis7 posted:

adbono posted:

Francis7 posted:

DesertDuck posted:

I'm guessing that 'Francis' is a nick-name that you earned early in life?

Be careful.  My real name is Frank Castle.  

That's the truth !  You have been punishing all of us !!

Well played Sir!

Thank you very little! 

Right now my son (7th, currently) attends the private K-12 where I teach HS . When I took this job I made him switch schools so we’d be on the same vacation schedule, but I promised him he could choose his own high school.  Now he wants to go to a high school 45 minutes from my school (and much closer to where we used to live and to where he went to elementary) with a more competitive HS baseball program. If he goes there it will be very hard for me to go to his games, if he even makes the team (he would definitely make the HS team if he stayed in Jersey with me). I will be so sad not to see him play!!! Granted there is a loooong two years between now and HS, and many things could happen in the meantime. I’ve missed one tournament in 5 years and a few middle school away games so far. If he makes it to college baseball, I may have to retire, at least temporarily. Teaching schedules are totally inflexible during the school year. 

Fan2024 posted:

Right now my son (7th, currently) attends the private K-12 where I teach HS . When I took this job I made him switch schools so we’d be on the same vacation schedule, but I promised him he could choose his own high school.  Now he wants to go to a high school 45 minutes from my school (and much closer to where we used to live and to where he went to elementary) with a more competitive HS baseball program. If he goes there it will be very hard for me to go to his games, if he even makes the team (he would definitely make the HS team if he stayed in Jersey with me). I will be so sad not to see him play!!! Granted there is a loooong two years between now and HS, and many things could happen in the meantime. I’ve missed one tournament in 5 years and a few middle school away games so far. If he makes it to college baseball, I may have to retire, at least temporarily. Teaching schedules are totally inflexible during the school year. 

Must be a private school thing, as each coach for my twins (baseball, softball, volleyball) are teachers at other high schools.

2019Dad posted:

A friend was out of town and his son was pitching, and his mother-in-law was at the game. Part of the way through he called his mother-in-law and, after establishing the score and inning, they had this exchange:

Dad: How's he look?

Mother-in-Law: Oh, he looks really cute. I love the white uniforms.

To be fair my wife isn't a dingleberry (not that your MIL is). She's actually a very intelligent woman. She just gets to gabbing with the other parents and there's the crack of the bat and she starts cheering and loses track of the play. I can tell if she's sitting in a group or by herself by the info I get.  Also, that's one of our more PG-rated exchanges. Times when I'm at work and things aren't going well tend to lead to me asking something like "are you sure you're at the right field"? Which will lead to me getting a couple F-bombs dropped on me and an end to the text updates, LOL.

I think the funniest text I got when I was not able to be at one of my son’s game was from my wife during a fall ball game.  She texted me that he “just hit a monster fly ball way out to left field.”  I’m thinking it was a shot over the fence...when I got to the game I asked him about it, and he shook his head in disbelief and said, “it was just a fly ball over the third base dugout and it hit a car.”  That’s why I don’t like to miss games lol.

Francis7 posted:

CTbballDad posted:

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

Oh, it's a scene. But, no wagon - red, or, any other color!

I've got my folding chair, my camera bag, and my backpack (with assorted stuff) and my cooler - when you're allowed to bring in coolers. And, on days where it looks like rain, I have my golf umbrella. I sort of look like a mule lugging all my stuff.

Francis: All that and no scorebook???

I will not make any weekday game if my kid makes the HS freshman team. I was so fortunate to make all of the games during his pre-HS years.

Ripken Fan posted:

Francis7 posted:

CTbballDad posted:

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

Oh, it's a scene. But, no wagon - red, or, any other color!

I've got my folding chair, my camera bag, and my backpack (with assorted stuff) and my cooler - when you're allowed to bring in coolers. And, on days where it looks like rain, I have my golf umbrella. I sort of look like a mule lugging all my stuff.

Francis: All that and no scorebook???

It's in the back pack! 😎

2022NYC posted:

I will not make any weekday game if my kid makes the HS freshman team. I was so fortunate to make all of the games during his pre-HS years.

Any plans on how to deal with missing the games?

Get a parent to do Gamechanger. Teach them how to score a game correctly (how to score a passed ball vs a wild pitch) and that should help.

FWIW, when my kid was playing 9U my job had me working so much I missed most of his games, and my daughters. I was missing dinners with family, working weekends...all for the $$$$. I realized it wasn’t worth it and literally took a $100K a year salary decrease to take a job that afforded me more time with family. Never regretted it and the salary eventually grew.

2022OFDad posted:

Get a parent to do Gamechanger. Teach them how to score a game correctly (how to score a passed ball vs a wild pitch) and that should help.

FWIW, when my kid was playing 9U my job had me working so much I missed most of his games, and my daughters. I was missing dinners with family, working weekends...all for the $$$$. I realized it wasn’t worth it and literally took a $100K a year salary decrease to take a job that afforded me more time with family. Never regretted it and the salary eventually grew.

CG is good. One thing you can do when scoring is add notes about plays. I picked up the habit from another dad who did running commentary on the game so that parents who were not there saw more than just balls and strikes. 

Francis7 posted:

CTbballDad posted:

Francis7 posted:

stayfocused posted:

Francis.....I completely understand your situation.  Why not buy your wife a nice HD video camera and tripod, spend a day letting her practice using, and then have her record the games so that you can watch at home?  Or she could livestream the games....once again I would strongly urge the use of a tripod for good quality.   

LOL.  You've never met my wife.  She would never do anything that would bring any extra attention to her presence.  She yells at me when I am lugging all my stuff to his games because "I am sticking out."

You, lugging stuff to games, I couldn't imagine...

Oh, it's a scene. But, no wagon - red, or, any other color!

I've got my folding chair, my camera bag, and my backpack (with assorted stuff) and my cooler - when you're allowed to bring in coolers. And, on days where it looks like rain, I have my golf umbrella. I sort of look like a mule lugging all my stuff.

Francis my line when leaving the field for the day lugging everything back to the car -- "I'm the family CEO - Carry Everything Out".  Feel free to use it at your discretion!

Qhead posted:

Francis my line when leaving the field for the day lugging everything back to the car -- "I'm the family CEO - Carry Everything Out".  Feel free to use it at your discretion!

I like it!

JCG posted:

CG is good. One thing you can do when scoring is add notes about plays. I picked up the habit from another dad who did running commentary on the game so that parents who were not there saw more than just balls and strikes. 

I didn't consider CG!  I know they had one in the past which the coaches did.  But, we have new coaches this year.  So, it might not happen again?

2022OFDad posted:

Get a parent to do Gamechanger. Teach them how to score a game correctly (how to score a passed ball vs a wild pitch) and that should help.

FWIW, when my kid was playing 9U my job had me working so much I missed most of his games, and my daughters. I was missing dinners with family, working weekends...all for the $$$$. I realized it wasn’t worth it and literally took a $100K a year salary decrease to take a job that afforded me more time with family. Never regretted it and the salary eventually grew.

If I took a $100K cut, my wife would file for divorce.  On the bright side though, with a $100K cut, I wouldn't have any money to pay her alimony.