Let your kid pick their path on the playing field

One of the things that is at the core of my being is playing sports. When I was young, that's all you could find me doing. Sometimes I was at the gym shooting hoops, other times I was out on the softball/baseball field, and then there were the times I would be in the backyard throwing the football with my dad. In short, I'm a sports freak and let's be honest, I want my son, Ryan, to be a sports freak too.

There is one problem with wanting your kid to be a sports freak too, you want your them to love the same sports that you love and so far, my son isn't quite taking to all the sports that I love. For example, this past spring when my husband, Dave, and I asked Ryan if he wanted to play baseball again, he wasn't all that excited. In fact, he was a bit pouty about it. I was kind of bummed to say the least since I like baseball and watching him on the ball field. So we asked him if he wanted to play something else like soccer and he was like, "Yeah, I want to play soccer!" And, he loved it. Every week, he ran around the field with a big grin on his face and was pumped every time he scored a goal. I never thought I would like watching my little man play soccer, but I did. Seeing him happy, like he was dribbling the ball below, was all that mattered. 

Ryan dribbling the ball on the soccer field. 

This fall, we gave him the option of playing three different sports at the Y and before we could even spit out the options, he said, "I want to play basketball." Now, that made me happy since I love the roundball and had a lot of fun last winter seeing him play. Anyway, we told him that basketball wasn't an option until the winter and this time around, he could play soccer, football, or tennis. Immediately, he said tennis and now, we're going to have a tennis player in the family, well, at least for the fall session anyway. We even tried it out over the weekend and so far, he loves it. And to be honest, I don't mind playing it too. 

Ryan hitting the tennis court over the weekend!

So, you might be thinking, what's the point of all this rambling about kids playing sports and not playing the sports you as parents might like? Well, the point is, your kid is their own little person, they have their own likes and dislikes, their own hopes and dreams, and what they decide is not up to you. It's up to them and only them. Don't push them, don't make them do something that they don't want to do. 

You have to let them pick their own path and if in the end my son doesn't like sports at all, so be it. I want him to be happy and if that's on the playing field, great. If it's on the stage playing on instrument, great. If it's behind a computer, great. 

Basically, whatever he wants to do in the future that is productive is fine with me. In the meantime, we're going to let him try all the sports, and other activities, that he wants because life is about exploring and having a fun time doing it!