New Year's!

Yes, I know, New Year's has come and gone already. Most of us have already tossed our resolutions out the window. New Year's is a funny thing to me. I'm as eager as anybody else to turn the page and start afresh, but why must we do it at the coldest, darkest, most depressing time of year?! It's hard enough just to get out of bed in January, let alone to do it full of purpose and resolve!

Anyway . . . we had a fun New Year's celebration, even though it was six weeks ago. On New Year's Eve, we "partied" at the Hansens with lots of fun treats and games. On New Year's Day, we took our kids sledding and then went out to eat and bowling with the Abbotts. A good time time had by all!

The Parenting Handbook

There isn’t one. A parenting handbook, that is. We’re all just making it up as we go. And every year that I venture further into the parenting frontier it becomes more perplexing. Every year that passes unfolds a new issue, a new dilemma, a new question. I find myself asking almost every parent I know, “How do you handle this?” “What is your approach to that?” “What is your philosophy on such and such” Not surprisingly, even among the most exemplary parents, the answers range from one end of the spectrum to the other. This inevitably leaves my head spinning. I admire a lot of parents and families I know, but they all seem to do it completely differently. So, perhaps that is the answer in and of itself. You do what works for you and your kids. And pray like crazy it works.

A Lesson in Children's Sports

Parenting Lesson #2,542: Childrens sports are not just fun and games.

It’s no news to anyone that I did not grow up playing sports. It’s no news to anyone that my husband absolutely DID, and the discrepancy was almost a deal-breaker for us. At any rate, the world of children’s “pee wee” sports was completely new to me when I entered it. I was naïve to the fact that your ability to actually play a sport is only half the battle, if that.

The other half is comprised of who your parents know, how involved they are, and their time and money resources. Who knew? Everybody but me, apparently. But, I’ve wisened up and understand the system now. This is how it goes on around here these days. If you want for your child to possibly play high school sports, you better start now. First, everybody starts in the city recreation league. Here, you pay a meager $25 to be randomly thrown on a team coached by volunteers, who may or may not know anything about the sport. At this level, savvy parents and would-be coaches start “scouting” out the good players, the kids you want your kids to play with for years to come.

After a couple of years in rec league, you form a competitive team, which gives you the ability to choose your own players and allow them to play together for years. Or you have your child “try out” for one of the uber-expensive and time consuming club teams. The coach of this team is important. You want him to be in the “pipeline,” so to speak, because he may end up being the Jr. High coach or having some connections to the Jr. High coach, also a volunteer position. If you were really smart, you would volunteer to be the Jr. High coach yourself to further ensure your child’s opportunity to play. And, everyone know that the Jr. High coaches are in cahoots with the high school coaches. And high school coaches at Timpview have their team chosen before the kids even reach high school, let alone high school tryouts. And, if you were really, really committed, you would hire a private coach/trainer for your child to work with one on one. That’s what everyone around here does.

There, now you know the innerworkings of childhood sports. Does that blow anyone else’s mind?

Loryn's Cheer!

Because Taylor is involved in so many things right now, I'm always on the lookout for extra things for Loryn to do. In one week's time, Timpview offered both a ballroom dance workshop and a mini cheer camp as fundraisers. I jumped on the opportunity of something quick, affordable, and right up Loryn's alley. Loryn loved her afternoon of ballroom instruction, despite being paired up with a sixth grade boy as her partner. Megan and I "spied" on her for a little while and could barely contain our chuckles. Quite the sight to see!

Later in the week, Loryn got to go to three cheerleading classes. The grand finale was the opportunity to cheer at the halftime of one of Timpview's boys basketball games. We joined the Hansens and Grandma and Grandpa to watch she and Katie cheer. I don't know if they're hopefuls for the varsity squad, but they definitely had a lot of fun!