Huge Day for my College Junior, Reality Check for Parents

Overthehill posted:

So next time he's 0-4 or can't throw a strike, remember to Love them the same.  It's just a game and our kids are more than just baseball players.  

+1 great advice FOR ALL AGES!

THAT is an important wake up call for many of us. It's easy to forget sometimes the kind of pressure these kids are under that expands way past the diamond.

Good luck to your son!

OTH,

How exciting for your son!  Best of luck to him on the exam and in the upcoming season. 

And very thoughtful post.  Thank you!

Awesome testimony!

Good  reminder for us in the following years behind to think of the future in those terms. My son is a high school junior and taking the SAT tomorrow.  At this point I feel like my time with my son in the house is very limited. I never feel burdened by anything he needs done. Instead of cooking dinner for him...I GET TO cook dinner for him.

Good luck to your son. I'd bet he's prepared and ready for the test. 

Thanks, from all of you!  Tomorrow the sun will come up and my son will be back at practice with the rest of his team.  Regardless of what he scores today on the test.  

Very timely post for me.  After 3 years of playing college ball my son instead of starting his Senior season has his first day in the Police Academy today.  He will finish up his remaining credits to get his degree part time after he graduates from the police academy in June.

For some reason I think when he joins the police department in June I will be more worried, nervous or whatever you want to call it than I was at any of his games.

Definitely very proud of him.

OTH, great post and message.  Best prayers, wishes and HSBBW karma waves to your son today and going forward.

I had one of those days yesterday (as I was trying to offer up some perspective to the mom dealing with 60 time anxiety)....

 I usually talk to or text my youngest about 4-5 times a week... he's in his senior (eligibility) college year -other side of the country.  Yesterday we talked three times.  He seems to have a starting OF spot locked but has been trying to play through a likely labrum tear.  It's been holding up just enough that a shift from CF to LF seemed to make it tolerable.  First call yesterday, arm is getting worse.  Last year of his playing career.  Big expectations.  Big downer.

Meanwhile, we get word from our middle child daughter (free spirit, travel the world on a shoestring budget) via facebook that her latest spur-of-the-moment trip to Mexico to kite surf finds her out of money and playing the ukulele on the side of the road and offering kite surf lessons for spending cash and a way to make it back home.     Perspective and attention shift.

Second call from youngest... original plan was to come home for this coming summer.  New news is he is looking into various summer internships for sports management and now is contemplating where in the country he may want to go. He's really thinking about what will be the best move for his post-college, post-playing working career.  Well, he sure seems to be dealing with the heightened arm concerns from two hours ago WAY better than I expected.  And showing maturity in his thought stream... that's awesome.  But wait, so... we may not see him for another.. two years?  OK, not sure now... should I be happy, sad, proud...??

Then a text from my oldest son... he has been dealing with significant family issues recently and had to pull out of grad school.  OK, REAL perspective.  

Then, the third call from youngest...  I can always tell it's gonna be a good call when he tries to lead off with small talk.  At some point, I hadn't asked the right questions and he couldn't hold it any more... He had just finished an inter-squad game and he hit a no-doubt HR against a "very confident and persistently articulating" Dominican teammate P.  Son is not typically a power guy.  Cloud nine.  For a few hours, everything else goes away...  certainly for him and somewhat for me, anyway.  Oops, I think in that other thread I said something about baseball being just a game, right?

  OK, let's see what today brings...  for all of us.

Thanks, from all of you!  Tomorrow the sun will come up and my son will be back at practice with the rest of his team.  Regardless of what he scores today on the test.  

Cabbagedad, I understand where you are coming from.  Oldest is headed to take test.  My youngest is a senior in high school and just recently signed with a JUCO close to home.  His text this mid-morning was to inform me that he was having a tough decision to make.  His decision was if he was going fishing or duck hunting this eve.  As you can tell, two very different kids with different priorities and stress levels.  

I've never really been nervous over either of my kids sports or life events. I figured if they were good enough to get into the position to succeed they will succeed. Logically I know they can't succeed every time. But if they fail in the moment they will figure it out and succeed the next time. I'm a big believer in the saying, "Failure is just a speed bump on the road to success."

My daughter took the bar exam this past fall. She was nervous she wouldn't pass. I just calmly told her she would do fine. She was excited when she found out she passed. I was excited for her. But I told her she has a tendency to succeed out of fear of failure. I knew she would over study to a level of excess where she couldn't help but pass.  

Good luck to your son today. If he's prepared he will do fine.

Best of luck to your son, OTM. My neighbor's daughter was just accepted to the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia. 

The thing I like about HSSBW is there is such great, great perspectives shared here --  be it about baseball or about parenting or both.  I can get so caught up in my own world that I lose sight of the big picture at times.  Thank you everyone.  

Excellent Post!

Life ... tell son all the time if you get thrown to the wolves you better be leading the pack!!!

Congrats and best wishes on your son having the option to pursue both of his passions. Well done, dad and mom!