Took 11 to Monroe yesterday and made that long drive back all alone today. I'm sure gonna miss him being around.
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Wednesday for us, 11sdad -- despite it being our 3rd, it's a strange feeling.
11sdad--
I know it must be tough--I cant imagine what a fool I'm going to make of myself when my little daughter leaves for school. Just know that you instilled the values and morals that will make him a successful individual, both on the baseball field and off. You cant do much more than that, the rest is in God's hands!
I know it must be tough--I cant imagine what a fool I'm going to make of myself when my little daughter leaves for school. Just know that you instilled the values and morals that will make him a successful individual, both on the baseball field and off. You cant do much more than that, the rest is in God's hands!
Just as a point of reference, mine goes back for year two in 6 days and 12 hours. It is amazing how a year can change your perspective.
i agree pd. i've sent one to college and one to the army with two more to go. it never gets any easier. best of luck to all of the guys beginning the next phase of their careers as well as all of our kids as they start the next phase of their lives.
11sdad, I will keep you and your family in my prayers. I'm sure there's a profound sense of loss that goes along with wonderful anticipation and excitement. Hopefully, the good, positive emotions will outweigh the sad ones in the very near future. Best wishes to 11Son as he begins his college baseball career! 
I have a week and a day left 11sdad
Not looking forward to the drive home at all.
But it is exciting to see him advance to the
next stage of his life.
Not looking forward to the drive home at all.
But it is exciting to see him advance to the
next stage of his life.
11's,
OMG, I'm tearing up with dread for next year! I'm pitiful!!!
But, I was happy to hear about his roommate! Isn't it a small world!
OMG, I'm tearing up with dread for next year! I'm pitiful!!!
But, I was happy to hear about his roommate! Isn't it a small world!
quote:Originally posted by Panther Dad:
Wednesday for us, 11sdad -- despite it being our 3rd, it's a strange feeling.
3rd??? How old are you anyway, MizzouDad?
Hang in there 11sdad. At least we have cell phones, texting, e-mails, face book, etc. Hope your son enjoys Monroe and has a good baseball experience there. Lots of good people there. We've made the trip so many times, that the four hours doesn't seem too long.
GO WARHAWKS!!
GO WARHAWKS!!
This was borrowed from a thread in the general forum...
quote:Originally posted by observer44:
.
OK, may be out of line here but it would appear that the thread is open to observations from those who have been through this...quote:Its comforting and extremely helpful to hear from those who are traveling with us...and from those who have traveled this path before us.
You know this stuff but it bears repeating at times like this...
Good news...there is still time!...Don't waste it, eat drink and be merry!...take a deep breath, smile, laugh, cherish every last minute together, try to avoid letting the sentiment, the stress of the moment, or the looming event tarnish the fun, excitement, and tight family connection that this moment offers, engenders, and commands.
Because....you want emotion?...you ain't seen nothing yet...in a few days when you're watching him walk away/walking away and then leaving town...This moment is simply one of the the most bittersweet experiences you will ever have in your lifetime...You will be empty like never before, you will cry like a baby for the loss of both your son and a large part of your life, you will swell three times your normal size with pride....and you will do this all at the same time. There is no craming for this, you cannot understand how deep this emotional flood is until you have done it...but the good news is that you are built for this so you will handle it just fine. At last report no parent had yet died from HS post partum.
Good news...they are much better prepared than you ever could have imagined, and you will soon find that out. The challenges are large, larger than you and he can know at this point...but you have groomed him for nearly two decades to take them on and he will do so with gusto.
Good news...I have been telling you this for years but it bears repeating at this moment....IMO, being a college student is about the best gig on the planet, and playing college sports IS the best gig on the planet and yours is about to have that opportunity...this means an instant healthy, motivated, bright eyed, optimistic, happy peer group...this means coaches, experts and advisors whose jobs and lives depend upon your young man being successful....and they would not have brought him into the fold unless they had confidence in his abilities. And he will struggle but in the process he will learn and grow in ways that you cannot predict and the next time you see him he will be the same...but very different.
Good news...Fortunately most of yours are headed for dorms...the perfect halfway house between home and house/apartment life.
Good news...you know that group of HS/Travel parents you were sorry to see go/happy to be done with? Well, the faces change but you get a new peer group all over again to share the experience with. You may loan a son, but for better or worse you gain a new peer group. And that starts now.
And while it might seem like an end, and in many ways it is...you will soon understand like never before that the journey never ends, you will have a small window to appreciate the magnitude of the moment but then it's right back to work putting out fires and figuring things out as the challenges begin once again anew in new and different ways: How to help them when they struggle from hundreds or thousands of miles way? What do I do with all this time? Renegotiating job, free time, and relationships. And whose life DO I run now that my son is gone??
Best wishes, good luck, God speed and prayers...
We have great hopes for you!
44
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Sunday is Ryans launch date to Tech, we had a going away dinner for him and the girlfriend. They have been together for 3 years, not counting the 100 breakups 
. You could see it in both of their faces. He went over this morning at 6 AM and sent her on her way to Aggieland. 1st time I have seen the boy ever get out of bed before 7.
PD, Call me sometime and lets go see a East game.
PD, Call me sometime and lets go see a East game.
tychco -- you get funnier as YOU get older. 
We left our oldest at Hardin Simmons 8 years ago this week.....I sat there in the car when it was time to leave, feeling slightly stunned. God took care of him there for 4 years and he is now a CPA that received his MBA from UTA last weekend. He has a great wife and is a great man.
We left our middle son at Lon Morris College in 2003.....I sat there in the car when it was time to leave, feeling slightly stunned. God took care of him and he received his degree in Business Management from DBU last May. He is the father of my grand-daughter, has a great wife and a good job and is a great man.
We will leave our youngest at Mizzou on Thursday.....I will sit there in my car when it is time to leave, feeling slightly stunned. God will take care of him through the challenges he will face. He will become a great man there. And our lives will never be the same. I'm still convincing myself that this is all a good thing.
In 2000, we communicated via telephone. In 2003, Instant Messenger. Today, I'm thankful for text messaging. And all this to say....I am excited for PS III and his new life.
-the ancient one, just trying to hold on for 164 more posts
We left our oldest at Hardin Simmons 8 years ago this week.....I sat there in the car when it was time to leave, feeling slightly stunned.
God took care of him there for 4 years and he is now a CPA that received his MBA from UTA last weekend. He has a great wife and is a great man. We left our middle son at Lon Morris College in 2003.....I sat there in the car when it was time to leave, feeling slightly stunned.
God took care of him and he received his degree in Business Management from DBU last May. He is the father of my grand-daughter, has a great wife and a good job and is a great man. We will leave our youngest at Mizzou on Thursday.....I will sit there in my car when it is time to leave, feeling slightly stunned.
God will take care of him through the challenges he will face. He will become a great man there. And our lives will never be the same. I'm still convincing myself that this is all a good thing. In 2000, we communicated via telephone. In 2003, Instant Messenger. Today, I'm thankful for text messaging. And all this to say....I am excited for PS III and his new life.
-the ancient one, just trying to hold on for 164 more posts
Yesterday I was standing in the driveway with tears in my eyes waving goodbye to my son. This is the start of year 2 at Kansas State for my nonbaseball playing college student/ fraternity man 
For those of you that have sons that are/will be playing baseball in college CONGRATS! I can not relate to your world I only know it through those players/parents that I am close. Through this relationship I know what the demands are for a college baseball player and I admire any young man that can play ball and go to college at the same time. It is tough, tough, tough.
Instead I am one of many parents that has a son that played ball in HS and then decided to hang up their glove for college. My post is to tell all future nonbaseball playing college students that "yes there is life after baseball".
Will you miss the sport, yes you will miss it and hopefully you will miss it for all the good it gave your son and your family. The void will lessen/go away once your son finds an interest at college that becomes his passion, or when your son gets so entrenched in college that you know that he has found his true home, or when your son finds a group of guys that become his "team" of friends and they are men you love like I have with my son's frat bros then you know that all is good and this is where he should be.
Will you get an occasional tear in your eye when you watch a youth/HS/college baseball game in person or on TV, yes. The tears are all good things because they are not for what is lost or what could have been but they are tears of joy for a sport that was an important part of your/our lives. They are tears of great/important memories and tears of happiness for the families of those playing the sport.
Will our sons become fans, yes. Our nonbaseball playing sons will have close friends and former rivals playihg ball in college and overnight they will become a fan. They will learn how to find the best sightlines in the stands, how to get to a game at "gametime", how to avoid bleacher butt, how to make a baseball game a cheap/fun college date, how to get a great tan at a baseball game and how to cheer, laugh and enjoy the game the way we "saw" and enjoyed the game.
Is there life outside of having your son's identity being wrapped around the title baseball player, yes. Our sons will find other things to get involved in that will give them the same structure and same work ethic that they had with baseball. The structure and work ethic they received while playing ball is part of their soul and will be their foundation for future success in the business/working world.
Will they look back and ask what if, yes. Most will at some time or another question their decision of putting up the glove. Baseball gets in your blood and stays in your blood. When that "what if" question comes up hopefully they will know the answer themselves and that answer might be "because I am where I am because I was good enough to be a baseball player and I knew in my heart and in my soul when it was MY time to walk away".
With or without baseball I wish all your sons the best college experience.
When your son is ready to leave for college and that tear begins to form remember that even though they are now living someplace else that it will be you that will always be there to open the frontdoor when they come back to their "home"
For those of you that have sons that are/will be playing baseball in college CONGRATS! I can not relate to your world I only know it through those players/parents that I am close. Through this relationship I know what the demands are for a college baseball player and I admire any young man that can play ball and go to college at the same time. It is tough, tough, tough.
Instead I am one of many parents that has a son that played ball in HS and then decided to hang up their glove for college. My post is to tell all future nonbaseball playing college students that "yes there is life after baseball".
Will you miss the sport, yes you will miss it and hopefully you will miss it for all the good it gave your son and your family. The void will lessen/go away once your son finds an interest at college that becomes his passion, or when your son gets so entrenched in college that you know that he has found his true home, or when your son finds a group of guys that become his "team" of friends and they are men you love like I have with my son's frat bros then you know that all is good and this is where he should be.
Will you get an occasional tear in your eye when you watch a youth/HS/college baseball game in person or on TV, yes. The tears are all good things because they are not for what is lost or what could have been but they are tears of joy for a sport that was an important part of your/our lives. They are tears of great/important memories and tears of happiness for the families of those playing the sport.
Will our sons become fans, yes. Our nonbaseball playing sons will have close friends and former rivals playihg ball in college and overnight they will become a fan. They will learn how to find the best sightlines in the stands, how to get to a game at "gametime", how to avoid bleacher butt, how to make a baseball game a cheap/fun college date, how to get a great tan at a baseball game and how to cheer, laugh and enjoy the game the way we "saw" and enjoyed the game.
Is there life outside of having your son's identity being wrapped around the title baseball player, yes. Our sons will find other things to get involved in that will give them the same structure and same work ethic that they had with baseball. The structure and work ethic they received while playing ball is part of their soul and will be their foundation for future success in the business/working world.
Will they look back and ask what if, yes. Most will at some time or another question their decision of putting up the glove. Baseball gets in your blood and stays in your blood. When that "what if" question comes up hopefully they will know the answer themselves and that answer might be "because I am where I am because I was good enough to be a baseball player and I knew in my heart and in my soul when it was MY time to walk away".
With or without baseball I wish all your sons the best college experience.
When your son is ready to leave for college and that tear begins to form remember that even though they are now living someplace else that it will be you that will always be there to open the frontdoor when they come back to their "home"
My 5'9" lefty -- that threw low 80's -- that got Chris Davis out 4-5 times in college -- still wonders "what if" on occasion....that's part of the greatness of baseball. (his old man wonders "what if".........what if I'd had girls!!!)
(his old man wonders "what if".........what if I'd had girls!!!)quote:Originally posted by Panther Dad:
(his old man wonders "what if".........what if I'd had girls!!!)
Well, for one, the toilet and the floor around it would always be clean!
You got that right!!! 
My daughter and son had to share a bathroom for several years- you can imagine the conversations between them sometimes!! 
My daughter and son had to share a bathroom for several years- you can imagine the conversations between them sometimes!!
Well, for one, the toilet and the floor around it would always be clean! 
[/QUOTE]
And I thought it was ONLY my sons problem!!!!
And I thought it was ONLY my sons problem!!!!
Biggest advantage to community bathrooms in college:
Since the staff cleans them and not the students they stay clean
Since the staff cleans them and not the students they stay clean
Mine has been gone for a month, due to basic military training (BMT), he had to be at the Air Force Academy July 15. It gets a little better after a month, but I think that is because you run out of tears. It still sucks.
Robert -- give us an update -- can you talk to him yet?
PD/MD,
Here is a little something to add to the misery of your kid leaving....he was in the hospital last week from Sunday thru Wednesday. He passed out in the bathroom, hit his head and ended up with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. He is out of the woods and all is going to be fine. It was quite scarey. Sandy flew up 1st thing Monday morning and stayed in the hospital with him. He is going back to class this morning. They have said he can have no physical activities for at least a month.
Besides that, he is doing great! He really loves it. He even liked basic training. He has found the place that he believes is just for him. Alex Baker is doing well also. Both boys did well in regard to the physical nature of basic training. Alex had a little more separation anxiety than Caleb, probably because he likes his parents more.
We get to go up for Labor Day to parents weekend and we can't wait. Thanks for asking.
Here is a little something to add to the misery of your kid leaving....he was in the hospital last week from Sunday thru Wednesday. He passed out in the bathroom, hit his head and ended up with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. He is out of the woods and all is going to be fine. It was quite scarey. Sandy flew up 1st thing Monday morning and stayed in the hospital with him. He is going back to class this morning. They have said he can have no physical activities for at least a month.
Besides that, he is doing great! He really loves it. He even liked basic training. He has found the place that he believes is just for him. Alex Baker is doing well also. Both boys did well in regard to the physical nature of basic training. Alex had a little more separation anxiety than Caleb, probably because he likes his parents more.
We get to go up for Labor Day to parents weekend and we can't wait. Thanks for asking.
I'm glad they survived the first few months -- but I knew they would. No physical activity for a month -- well, that will be the tough part. Thanks for reminding me about the possibilities of injury, slightly higher for those in basic training....or those playing baseball.
Take care....let do the football thing some time soon.....I hear you have another son and I understand the Lions have a QB and WR pair that aren't bad.
Take care....let do the football thing some time soon.....I hear you have another son and I understand the Lions have a QB and WR pair that aren't bad.
Robert:
Glad to here Caleb is on the mend.
Glad to here Caleb is on the mend.
I think I got on here this afternoon to avoid helping SmartSon load up the car for a little while longer before heading out to Hardin-Simmons tonight! I like PD's comment about sitting in the car stunned. I think that's how I will be tomorrow night when we head back to Irving! It has been a long, wonderful, sometimes bumpy ride since he started out in t-ball 13 years ago! Through the coach pitch, first year of kid pitch, 10 year old all-starts, select teams, moving to Dallas from Houston, not being sure he even wanted to play anymore, and to now see him excited about reaching his dream of playing at the next level. WOW!! The memories we have made and the fun we have had.
My best wishes to all headed off for college ball, either for the first time or for the last time! Think of all the new memories we can make to look back on someday!!
Well, off to pack the car!
My best wishes to all headed off for college ball, either for the first time or for the last time! Think of all the new memories we can make to look back on someday!!
Well, off to pack the car!
They'll be calling for money a week from Wednesday.
SD -- Coach Coleman is one of the best. He became a like a second (or substitute away-from-home) father to my son. SmartSon is in good hands.
Took CU2 yesterday and just got a call for money and to say that he broke his cell phone. Man we are off to a good start
It doesn't get any easier as each child goes off to college.
And it sure as heck doesn't get any cheaper...
And it sure as heck doesn't get any cheaper...
That was a WILD party last night, CU.
PD,
We have been really impressed with Coach Coleman. I am so glad SmartSOn decided to go there. We dropped in one day this summer (getting some things in order for the coming year) and there were several of the baseball boys just hanging out in the field house, playing ping-pong and hanging out with the coach. What a great testimony of how his players feel about their coach!
We have been really impressed with Coach Coleman. I am so glad SmartSOn decided to go there. We dropped in one day this summer (getting some things in order for the coming year) and there were several of the baseball boys just hanging out in the field house, playing ping-pong and hanging out with the coach. What a great testimony of how his players feel about their coach!
quote:Originally posted by Panther Dad:
That was a WILD party last night, CU.
This is one of the things all parents fear and I know it's going to happen to some extent but I was very proud of 11 yesterday. First weekend at college and he went out and found a Church to attend.
11sdad,
That is awesome to hear. 11 was always a good kid from the first day I met him when he and Caleb were teammates for the Cobras. I know you and his mom are proud.
That is awesome to hear. 11 was always a good kid from the first day I met him when he and Caleb were teammates for the Cobras. I know you and his mom are proud.
11sdad -- that's some good stuff! I imagine his sister is proud as well. Our boys will find the parties too, I'm sure. What a time in their young lives!
11sdad, congrats to your son for making wise choices!
smartdad, I echo the comments of everyone else about Coach Coleman. We met him a couple of years ago and were tremendously impressed with not only his love for the game, but his love for all of his players.
IF08 son heads to school on Wednesday. My hubby and I will drive a separate car to see him off. It's going to be VERY hard to say goodbye. Just thinking about it can bring me to tears.
Texan, has your son left for school yet?
smartdad, I echo the comments of everyone else about Coach Coleman. We met him a couple of years ago and were tremendously impressed with not only his love for the game, but his love for all of his players.
IF08 son heads to school on Wednesday. My hubby and I will drive a separate car to see him off. It's going to be VERY hard to say goodbye. Just thinking about it can bring me to tears.
Texan, has your son left for school yet?