Dear world, I have a problem with how you have made sports need to be such a competition. Why can't we just let them PLAY? It seems that there is such a push to make our kids "the best" and I see people putting them through practice after practice to compete and be the winner. Don't get me wrong, a little competition is a good thing and so is practicing, but come on! Do they need to be consumed by it in their lives? Seriously, just let them play and have fun! My favourite is when they're pushed into it and the parents say for them "oh they just love doing it!" - sure, they might, but maybe it's a little bit because they aren't given much other option?
Anyways, circumstances are of course different for every parent/child relationship, but none-the-less there is a huge push in society to be the best, and I hope my kids are able to just enjoy many different activites, and if they're really good at it, great! We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But i'm telling you we likely won't pick just one sport for them to in, but rather a variety until they're older and if they so choose to venture into something more specific then great!
Things I want my kids to try at least once:
Swimming lessons (and i say once, but I think everyone should know how to swim so my kids won't really have much of a choice here LOL they'll take lessons until they know how to swim without assistance)
Gymnastics
Soccer
Softball/Baseball
Archery
Horseback Riding
Cooking for kids (offered in Cochrane)
Piano lessons
Another instrument (i'd really like one of my boys to learn Violin)
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
I know what you mean & I feel like it starts really early for some. Like the people who "brag" about how quick their babies are advancing. My brother in law is an example of this. With his first born, I got the feeling that if she wasn't ahead of the game, he wouldn't love her as much. I vowed that I would show my child(ren) "I love you, even if you are below average!" Every child will have something they excel at and other things they need to work on. But to grow & flourish I feel like they need to know their parents love them & are proud of them just for being. And trying.
ReplyDeleteWe're really not into the whole organized sports thing. All I'm requiring of my kids (Brettley may have to be an exception, we'll see), is that they take swimming long enough to learn how to get out of a pool on their own if they fell in and they have to take at least 1 year of piano. Beyond that the only thing I expect of them is to do activities through the church like Cubs and mutual.
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