One of my mantras over the past sixteen years of motherhood has been “This is the season of life I am in right now.” It’s a simple mantra—a recognition that what I’m experiencing is not permanent. (As an aside: sixteen years? How did that happen?) When things started to reopen this spring, I felt suffocated…
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Adults Behaving Badly
Everybody else’s families had been out at the ballfields for nearly four hours by the time I got back there last night—even the four-year-old little sister of Alex’s teammate. I was the slacker; all I’d done from 4p.m. on was take kids to piano, pick up dinner at Hy Vee, drop Nicholas at cub…
Read MoreWhen Kindergarteners “Play” “Baseball”
Watching kindergarteners “play” “baseball” is a one-hour comedy routine. Among the gems: – a cute little boy who hits the ball, stares at it open-mouthed, and then, with all the parents shouting for him to run, runs…to third base. – Having been thrown out at third, everybody says, “First base, buddy! First base!” He proceeds…
Read MoreKids Sports: It’s (supposed to be) about Respect
Today I’m handing the soapbox over to my husband, who is coaching Little League this year for the first time. As parents, we find the attitude toward kids’ sports disturbing–too focused on winning and creating star players, too little focus on teamwork, character and physical fitness, and not enough playing time for the mid-pack and…
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Kathleen M. Basi 