I am a sports mom.... what I mean by that is I have kids in every sport imaginable. I have cheered on my wrestler, football player, track participant, soccer player, basketball player, cheerleader and baseball player. I have sat through wind, rain, sub zero temperatures, heat indexes well above 100 degrees farenheit and in gymnasiums, football fields, track fields, wrestling mats and in sweaty, smelly cramped bleachers. I KNOW what it takes to be your child's biggest fan. What I also know is that I have learned many vaulable lessons in sitting there cheering on my favorite sports particpants and teams. Great lessons... life lessons. I am going to share these mainly because today I watched my son take last place in a tournament he worked so so hard on. You know the best part? He was happy... HAPPY to be there. He was smiling, he was laughing, he was excited about his part in the game and he was proud. Of himself- his team and his coaches and it didn't matter if they were first or last... they were all WINNERS in his book. I am so proud... so very very proud.
- Always...always...always tell your child you are proud. Whether they score the most points, the least points, no points. Tell them you are proud because what it all boils down to is that all they care about us what you think of them- not that W on the scorecard.
- Be the bigger man when it comes to you and your opponent. I saw teams who were getting beaten by 40 points or more smile, not get frustrated and still trying 100% to get that one more point. They never gave up and they never quit.
- Do not be THAT parent. You know the one... the one who is so engrossed in their child's performance they cannot breathe or look away from their viewfinder as the videotape every single breath their child takes. What are you missing behind that viewfinder?
- For every negative you mention to to your child "you could have done this..." or "maybe you missed this"... follow with at least 2 positives. If all you give them is negative what can they feel proud of?
- Learn from my son, be the best athlete you can be whether you win or lose, whether you are ahead or behind, whether you are excelling or lag behind. Learn from mom son because I am fortunate enough to have learned from him today.
I know there is more I can say I learned... but I wanted to take a minute to say how I feel today because this post is dedicated to my amazing son who taught me today about how to be the winner despite what the scoreboard says... and I could not be any prouder. Love you Tyler, I am the luckiest mom in the world.
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