I am proud of my son

A Parent

I always said your son does not need you when he goes 3-4 or pitches a shutout. he needs you when he goes 0-4 with 3 Ks or gets lit up on the mound. In that case he can be proud of you. But to all baseball sometimes overwhelms us. It takes on an importance that is disproportionate with other things. When you really come down to it it is just a game and there are much more important things in life. A cure for cancer greatly outweighs the importance of baseball. It is all a matter of perspective.

AParent and Will: Thanks for your posts. Good thoughts by both. I am also very proud of my son, and it has little to do with baseball in the long run.

I want to issue a challenge to all the proud parents on this board: As this is the holiday season, find a child who has not heard any words of encouragement from his or her parents. Find a child who has been abused, neglected or otherwise forgotten. Give a gift to him or her. Put a smile on his or her face. Let them know that someone thinks they are special.

I'm not talking Blue Santa or any one of the many fine organizations devoted to Christmas giving. Go to your son's school principal or counselor. Ask them of a deserving child. They will know of at least one. Then go and do something special for that child. Whoever helps will you have to maintain confidentiality regarding that child. Remain anonymous.

You may make a difference in one other young person's life.

I couldn't agree more. We all sometimes get caught up in baseball and the accomplishments of our sons. But when I take a step back and look at the overall picture I realize that baseball, although a big part of my son's life, is not what I am most proud of him for. What he has done outside of baseball, given the amout of his time devoted to that pursuit, is amazing to me.
I think there is another point to be made as well. Baseball teaches great life lessons if properly handled. Not only by our sons, but by us as parents too. All of us on this board are obviously very involved in our son's lives and reap the benefits of that involvement. We are all proud of our sons and have much to be thankful for.

Baseball is such a small peice of the overall puzzle. As our kids grew up there were many kids as good, or better, than ours on the field. As time went on, their personalities grew and the they established their own sets of values. These traits are brought out on the field. Baseball happens to be the stage where they perform.

And baseball is what makes our sons better young men---it teaches them teamwork; it teaches them how to handle adversity; it teaches them respect of authority.

I could keep going on but I think you know what I mean.

I would also trust that you are as proud of your daughter(s) , if you have any, as you are of your son--after all they sacrifice as well for brother and I am sure are proud of him

SOOOOOOOOO true tr

"Sports doesn't build charater, it displays it."
-unknown

Organized baseball is a great place for learning life lessons. 6, 8, 10 years or more of organized baseball can teach kids self-confidence, the value of hard work, team work, teammates, coaches and just maybe even parents too.

I can think of worse places to grow up.

with all of the above...
And thanks, TR for remembering our daughters, too. And, yes, I'm very proud of all she is! A freshman @ A&M, bio-med, excellent student, a heart of gold & most importantly, her beautiful soul that shines thru her beautiful voice!
Parents who realize the gift that having children brings are indeed fortunate.

Great comments everyone ... I also am most proud of the 'man' my son is becoming ... baseball is a beautiful thing that he does for himself, but it's not who he is. It's just a wonderful journey.

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to all the baseball coaches out there who take their love of the game and their love for these boys to truly teach the game of baseball ... especially the game 'outside' the lines: respect, teamwork, encouragement, confidence, discipline, hard work, positive attitude, support your teammates, etc. ... the part that teaches these boys how to be men.

I also thank all of the coaches my son has had. As a single mom, these men have been an influence in his life that has help him turn into the young man that I am SO proud of. He's a polite young man, a good friend, compassionate to his sister, could be a better student but he's getting there. He's everything I've ever wished for in a son.

P.S. My daughter's pretty special too!

TR

Thaks for adding daughte4s. I have only sons so I missed that one.

Mine's a great kid and I'm proud of him. I can only hope that he grows to be as fine a young man as many of the sons of our posters have turned out to be. I've got a great daughter too!

AParent et al ...

What a great chain of thoughts.

Although I am still a "mom" first with my son, who is definitely now a man, I am proud of the person he has become. I have learned much from him, especially in how he has handled adversity over the course of his baseball career. He is a wonderful human being who puts others before himself, and I would select him as a friend if we weren't related.

Never had the good fortune of having a daughter, but my son's fiance is a phenomenal young woman, and represents what I am sure are many wonderful daughters out there whose parents are proud of as well ... as TR has indicaated.

Congratulations to all who can enjoy their children for who they are, not what they are. The apples don't fall far from the tree and I am sure these fine young people are a wonderful reflection of their special parents.

I think FutureBack.Mom (name change ) has brought up the key to where our proud feelings originate.

[QUOTE]...I have learned much from him...[QUOTE]

Until this was mentioned, I realized, but never deeply thought about what I have learned from my kids and how empty and unsatisfying my life would be without their experiences. Thx BBM!

rz1 ...

Yep ... decided to go in a different direction. Besides, my friends kept telling me they couldn't resist singing the Chili's rib jingle everytime they saw the name ...

FB.M (formerly BBM)

Aparent,

Thanks for starting this thread.....

I am blessed with a wonderful family. My wife of 25 years should get an award just for hanging around a baseball bum for all of these years.

I have four great kids, two boys and two girls and I am so thankful for the mature adults they are becoming. I love them all very much and without anyone of them would not be the man I am.

Thanks for this thread. With 7 "kids" from 29 down to 15 we have had a very blessed life so far. Some were athletes, some weren't,we love them all for who and what they are.

(I would like to meet the kid that is impersonating our son when he's not at home. People keep saying what a great kid that one is.)

FBM,
Hard to keep up with all the name changes. If I remember right your son's fiance will also be having a name change in the near future.

I'll join in, I have 4 children, 3 boys and a girl. Very proud of them all.

Youngest has played professional baseball for 11 years and has played in the Big Leagues.

Next youngest played professional baseball, has a college degree and is now a national director for Perfect Game USA.

Next youngest my girl, who manages a business in Connecticut.

We love them all equally, but I'm the very most proud of my oldest son who never played baseball. He is an officer (Nuclear Division) in the US Navy.

As my son prepares for his 4th year of professional baseball, I am proud of him for last night's "guest speaker" appearance at his highschool's Fellowship Of Christian Athletes chapter.

OPP

itsagreatgame,

I am fortunate to be able to do as you suggested 5 days a week for I am a teacher. I hope everyday that I can make even a small positive difference in one child's life.

Ann

OUBsbMom: I tip my hat to the educators this holiday season. Particularly to two a couple of hundred miles south of you.

Continued good luck with your son's pitching. Unless, of course, it's against the Horns....

AParent,
As always thanks for the dose of perspective. You have a wonderful way of getting all of us back on track!

It is timely that you made your post when you did. As I sat watching the Monday night football game with my two now grown sons (both are huge Tennessee Titan fans - tough season) I realized how much I love being around these guys. Not just because they are my sons but because they are fun for me .... sure they give Dad a hard time and decide he should be the bottom of a "dog pile" at halftime, but we also relate well.

Like most parents I am very proud of my boys. Not once did I thik about awards they have won, season or career stats, games or individual plays. We just had a great evening watching their Titans give another game away!

Thanks AParent!

Baseball does not define what kind of young man you are. What kind of young man you are defines what kind of baseball player you are. Before my boys were born I was about me. The day my first son was born my whole life changed. For the first time in my life the most important thing in my life was not me. I have received so much more from my boys than I will ever give back. Saturday I took my youngest to the UNC Chapel Hill pitchers catchers camp. When it ended we were going to walk over to Kenan Stadium to watch the 4-A state championship game. Thats when we realized that my son did not have his clothes with him to go to the game with. We sprinted to the truck hauled butt to the mall and bought him some sweats and then hauled butt to the game. Then we left the game and drove to the High School basketball game. When we got home I was exhausted. Camp all day, football game, basketball game. As I layed on the floor watching Sports Center my son came in the room and said. "Dad thats was a blast". "Baseball camp, football game and basketball game all in one day". "Thanks for taking me I love you". You can not put a price tag on the memories that you make with your children. A parent should not be judged by their accomplishments but by the accomplishments of their children. The accomplishment I am most proud of is the fact that my boys are respectfull of others, determined competitors and loving young men. I am so proud to be their father.

It's always interesting to me that whenever I find myself reflecting on our sons' baseball memories, I rarely think about the wins, awards, etc. Instead I love to remember the times when they quietly showed character on or off the field, often when no one else even knew about it.
Those are the memories that bring tears to my eyes ...and make me feel so incredibly blessed and proud.

You know this thread has me thinking and I like that. What kind of things make me proud of my kids? Are the baseball things more important to me or are the general things that they do more or just as important? Last summer during Legion my youngest was struggling at the plate. I don't know if he was fatigued from having to catch 4 or five games a week or what but he for the first time has struggling at the plate. We got home from a late game and he asked me if he could hit some off a t. It was about 1 in the morning and I told him it was late and we would work some on the t the next day. I went to bed and was asleep and my wife woke me up. She said that she could hear a noise outside in the garage and I needed to go check on it. Well it was my son hitting ball after ball off the t in the garage. I didnt say a word I never let him know that I saw him. The next night he went 4-4 3 doubles and drove in 7 runs. He came up to me after the game and said "I figured it out last night I was opening up my front side and dropping my hands. I hit till about 3 this morning". He had the biggest smile on his face that I have ever seen. Boy I was so proud of him. Not just because he went 4-4. But because he went out and did something about it. He didnt look for excuses or feel sorry for himself he went out and did something about it on his own. Then there is all the Saturday mornings I woke up to the sound of the lawnmower. Yes my oldest son cutting grass at 8 in the morning because he knew that I got in late from a game and he wanted me to be able to sleep in a little. Sometimes it takes someone to open a thread like this to make you stop and think about how lucky we are and how proud we are.

Sorry folks, I already posted once on this but I couldn't resist. Youngest son (Acopella Choir)in a Christmas concert last night, his sister drove 2 hours one way to see/hear him sing for 20 minutes. I'm not sure who to be prouder of him for doing something "non-athletic" or her for dedication to family. I am a happy and proud father.

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how lucky my wife and I have been with our two sons. Yes, they were both successful in sports and that added to both our lives, but it’s the widespread problems that many families have raising their children that seem to be foreign to us. I often wondered why our boys have never caused us any heartache and only seem to excel in their daily lives. I pinch myself and find I’m not dreaming and wonder if I should stop bragging to our friends about their accomplishments.

Proud to me seems somewhat of an understatement. I love them equally and I’m swollen with pride.

I look back over years of accomplishments for our 2 sons and it never ends with great feelings of pride. Our oldest won a national championship in roller hockey in 1997 but the semester grades he showed us this week, after years of struggling, wow! far exceeds 1997. We were thrilled when our freshman son, after a great fall season, informed us he will be starting in leftfield in the spring, Well he just recieved his 1st college grades from Hampden Sydney, wow! Championships & starting positions are great but their college education is our dream. Proud parents, yes indeed!

Go Hokies & Go Tigers

fc v dad

That is why........ "Baseball is Life"!!!