There's a Christmas song that I heard this afternoon while driving alone in the car called Grown Up Christmas List. I usually change the radio station when any holiday music comes on, except for Feliz Navidad because, well, who can't help belting that one out at the top of their lungs? This time , I kept the radio station right where it was because the song was so pretty. Then I had a great idea. I would make my own Grown up Christmas List. It would not have material items on it , at least not wants and wishes...It would have what I would ask Santa for if anything were possible...
1. To never have to worry about my children's health. I would ask for a guarantee of healthy lives for each of them.
2. That my dog live until she is very old and will not suffer when the time comes.
3. That my husband doesn't have to work until he is 70, and tired. That our money will grow, and emergencies will not arise to knock down our nest egg.
4. That my daughter comes to realize that I want what is best for her, I am not trying to make her miserable .
5. That Mikey graduate high school. (ok, this one is only kinda serious) .
6. That Zach gets to fuflill his dream of playing college football and we don't have to travel to Minnesota or some other God forsaken frozen land to get that opportunity.
7. That if Zach doesn't get to play college football, he will always keep the memories and experiences from when he did play and look back on it fondly.
8. That I will learn to embrace change in both my body and my mind . both of which are losing steam.
9. That I will learn to listen to people more , and talk less.
10. That my patience is extended a few more years , since I have a lot of teen years ahead of me to deal with and I want to be as even keeled for Mikey as I am for Zach. (This one is doubtful).
I could probably come up with 10 more things to wish for this Christmas, but this is a good place to start... I hope if you get chance to listen to this Christmas song you will and maybe it will inspire you as well... If not , change the station. Feliz Navidad is on somewhere!
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
8 More Quarters ...
It was the summer before the 4 th grade , when a good friend and neighbor said to me, "Hey , why doesn't Zach sign up for football?" I thought for a minute and said, "Well, if you're doing it , then we will too." At the time Zach was playing baseball and he was involved in Karate as well. Plus I had a preschooler and a toddler, that both required my undivided attention. However, I was all about creating a well rounded child, and he did seem to like to hit things , so football it was. Thus began an 8 year journey , starting with the New Tampa Sharks (where my heart still resides, as well as some of my great friends) and now ending with the Wiregrass Ranch High School Bulls. We are two weeks away from completing a very long and fulfilling chapter in our lives, and I don't know how to feel about that. Eight years of watching my son get hit, do the hitting, save a game, lose a game has been a veritable roller coaster ride of emotions for me. But this is not all about me. It is about a boy who became a young man right before my eyes, and football was always in the backdrop of that childhood.
If any of you know Zach, you know he is not a picture of a football player. He is thin , almost too thin, and right at 6 feet tall. He is more pegged as a baseball player or even a runner. Both things he has done, but has always come right back to football. I remember the first time he put those huge shoulder pads on when he was a Mitey Mite for the Sharks. He looked so small, and so adorable. Then , after many pictures and oohs and ahhs , I watched him play. Then I knew, this kid could PLAY. He wasn't afraid to get out there and possibly be hit, albeit by another miniature 9 year old ,because those were the days of weight class football. Week after week for four years he played rec football, and was the starting QB for most of those seasons. He gained confidence, strength and problem solving skills over the course of those years. (Yet the National Honor Society rejected him because he had no leadership qualities, but I digress...). Once in high school football was a test in accommodation. He learned to improvise, and adapt new attitudes all the time due to several coaching problems and changes. All the while keeping an attitude of positivity and always playing at the very highest level he could. He still, as a senior player on Varsity, is called upon week after week to sometimes play out of his comfort zone, and he does. And he does it WELL. He has gone from exclusively playing QB during JV season to playing many positions, both offense and defense ,4 years later. He may not be the best player on the team but he is the one the coaches go to all the time.
This is not a testament to how great a football player Zach is, it is a testament to how sports can shape a person . He did most of his extracurriculars in high school on that field. He missed countless weekend trips, vacations and job opportunities because he has devoted his time to playing a sport that he loves and trying to get better at it. He has the minimum number of volunteer hours required by Bright Futures because just try to fit in volunteering somewhere for 100 hours between weightlifting,speed drills and practice. This sport has been a constant in his life , and our family's life as well. Every Friday night in the Fall , we can have no plans . We are at football, period. Am I going to miss that? Desperately. Am I going to miss worrying that the next hit my kid takes on the field will be the one that has lasting repercussions? No Way. So you see, there's the mixed emotions I was talking about. I know Zach feels this way as well. He loves the game, but hates the grueling schedule. He loves being a part of the team, but hates the constant soreness and aches he has. But obviously the love outweighs all that other stuff because he has stuck with it for almost 9 years. And so have I.
Now it's time for college applications and decisions. He would love to be part of a college football team. So far no coach is looking at him. Probably because of that 6 foot, 160 lb frame of his. Its definitely not because of his stats, or his tenacity on the field, because both of those things are stellar. I want him to achieve his dreams , and if playing football is part of those dreams then I hope he gets an offer. However, football has taught him discipline and strength , which spilled over into his academic life. If Zach doesn't make a college team , Zach still gets to go to college because he kept his grades up throughout these years of playing football. And that was a lesson was worth learning these past 9 years.
If any of you know Zach, you know he is not a picture of a football player. He is thin , almost too thin, and right at 6 feet tall. He is more pegged as a baseball player or even a runner. Both things he has done, but has always come right back to football. I remember the first time he put those huge shoulder pads on when he was a Mitey Mite for the Sharks. He looked so small, and so adorable. Then , after many pictures and oohs and ahhs , I watched him play. Then I knew, this kid could PLAY. He wasn't afraid to get out there and possibly be hit, albeit by another miniature 9 year old ,because those were the days of weight class football. Week after week for four years he played rec football, and was the starting QB for most of those seasons. He gained confidence, strength and problem solving skills over the course of those years. (Yet the National Honor Society rejected him because he had no leadership qualities, but I digress...). Once in high school football was a test in accommodation. He learned to improvise, and adapt new attitudes all the time due to several coaching problems and changes. All the while keeping an attitude of positivity and always playing at the very highest level he could. He still, as a senior player on Varsity, is called upon week after week to sometimes play out of his comfort zone, and he does. And he does it WELL. He has gone from exclusively playing QB during JV season to playing many positions, both offense and defense ,4 years later. He may not be the best player on the team but he is the one the coaches go to all the time.
This is not a testament to how great a football player Zach is, it is a testament to how sports can shape a person . He did most of his extracurriculars in high school on that field. He missed countless weekend trips, vacations and job opportunities because he has devoted his time to playing a sport that he loves and trying to get better at it. He has the minimum number of volunteer hours required by Bright Futures because just try to fit in volunteering somewhere for 100 hours between weightlifting,speed drills and practice. This sport has been a constant in his life , and our family's life as well. Every Friday night in the Fall , we can have no plans . We are at football, period. Am I going to miss that? Desperately. Am I going to miss worrying that the next hit my kid takes on the field will be the one that has lasting repercussions? No Way. So you see, there's the mixed emotions I was talking about. I know Zach feels this way as well. He loves the game, but hates the grueling schedule. He loves being a part of the team, but hates the constant soreness and aches he has. But obviously the love outweighs all that other stuff because he has stuck with it for almost 9 years. And so have I.
Now it's time for college applications and decisions. He would love to be part of a college football team. So far no coach is looking at him. Probably because of that 6 foot, 160 lb frame of his. Its definitely not because of his stats, or his tenacity on the field, because both of those things are stellar. I want him to achieve his dreams , and if playing football is part of those dreams then I hope he gets an offer. However, football has taught him discipline and strength , which spilled over into his academic life. If Zach doesn't make a college team , Zach still gets to go to college because he kept his grades up throughout these years of playing football. And that was a lesson was worth learning these past 9 years.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Oprah has A-Ha moments I have Ah- Shit moments.
Today I had one of those A-Ha moments, well it was actually more like a Ah-shit moment, in Bath and Body Works. I was there for my monthly Wallflower splurge , if you have to ask what these are we can no longer be friends. I got up to the register with my 4 Wallflowers, free mini candle and new autumnal Wallflower plug in (it light s up!) and I heard the two cashiers talking. Now, these girls were probably 19 years old , very cute , perky, candle loving looking young ladies. I could've liked them until... they said to each other "I have never heard of this song" to which the other candle pusher replied "me either, it's horrible." The song was a Paul Simon classic titled "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" . I had been singing it just seconds before as I placed my purchases on the counter. Clearly, my face changed when I heard the girls saying they never heard of it ,because my daughter looked at me in horror. She KNEW what was coming. I had to say SOMETHING.
Let me preface this by saying that I am guilty of playing music to my children from decades ago. They are used to it and now they just bring their headphones in the car if they don't want to hear "my" music. But before the headphones and iPods they were schooled on what is classic and what is, well, crap. This has resulted in three children that can belt out any Billy Joel, Beatles , Eagles , Jim Croce and yes, Paul Simon song. They may not like it but they recognize it. These two salesgirls clearly did not have mothers who loved them. Or they did not have mothers who could hear, maybe they were children of deaf mothers? That's all I could fathom from the fact that neither of them had ever heard of the song. But surely they knew who the artist was, right? WRONG. When I butted into the teeny boppers conversation at the register(much to my daughter's embarrassment) I said "It's Paul Simon, you know the better half of Simon and Garfunkel?" Their reply was, excuse the pun, the sound of silence. Blank stares and then finally they both said "oh" . And back they went to ringing up my Caramel Pumpkin Spice wallflower. I continued humming about Julio and the schoolyard as I walked out with my overpriced, over fragranced purchases but I could not help but wonder...when did I become the old lady who shakes her head in disbelief at teenaged cashiers whose knowledge of music clearly doesn't expand past Lil Wayne. I'm fairly certain that in 43 years , while they are shopping in Bath and Body Works , Little Wayne songs won't be on in the background for their shopping pleasure. My children disagree with this. They say these songs now are the classics of tomorrow. Really??? Well in that case I'm glad I'll be dead, or at the very least deaf.
So my Ah shit moment came when I realized that I'm getting seriously old. I mean in the last two weeks we've lost Robin Williams and Joan Rivers , both of who were a giant part of entertainment throughout my life. Then it was the 17th anniversary of Princess Diana's death a few weeks ago, and my son and his girlfriend found me watching footage of her funeral on my laptop. When they both said "who is that?" I thought they were kidding, and after a few minutes of asking them questions, I realized they were not . That was such a huge part of history that I couldn't believe that a 17 and 18 year old did not know about it. I watched that funeral while rocking my 2 week old colicky son all night , crying both from lack of sleep and from the loss of a woman much too young to leave us. But these are my memories, not the youth of today. I can't expect them to hold these things as dear as I do. The reason I know every word to Paul Simon songs(among others) is they were in the background of my childhood. They left an imprint that stayed with me. I just hope the things leaving their mark on my children are as long lasting and worth while, but if not I have definitely snuck my fair share of "oldies" music in their heads so that maybe they'll be caught humming about Julio someday too.
Let me preface this by saying that I am guilty of playing music to my children from decades ago. They are used to it and now they just bring their headphones in the car if they don't want to hear "my" music. But before the headphones and iPods they were schooled on what is classic and what is, well, crap. This has resulted in three children that can belt out any Billy Joel, Beatles , Eagles , Jim Croce and yes, Paul Simon song. They may not like it but they recognize it. These two salesgirls clearly did not have mothers who loved them. Or they did not have mothers who could hear, maybe they were children of deaf mothers? That's all I could fathom from the fact that neither of them had ever heard of the song. But surely they knew who the artist was, right? WRONG. When I butted into the teeny boppers conversation at the register(much to my daughter's embarrassment) I said "It's Paul Simon, you know the better half of Simon and Garfunkel?" Their reply was, excuse the pun, the sound of silence. Blank stares and then finally they both said "oh" . And back they went to ringing up my Caramel Pumpkin Spice wallflower. I continued humming about Julio and the schoolyard as I walked out with my overpriced, over fragranced purchases but I could not help but wonder...when did I become the old lady who shakes her head in disbelief at teenaged cashiers whose knowledge of music clearly doesn't expand past Lil Wayne. I'm fairly certain that in 43 years , while they are shopping in Bath and Body Works , Little Wayne songs won't be on in the background for their shopping pleasure. My children disagree with this. They say these songs now are the classics of tomorrow. Really??? Well in that case I'm glad I'll be dead, or at the very least deaf.
So my Ah shit moment came when I realized that I'm getting seriously old. I mean in the last two weeks we've lost Robin Williams and Joan Rivers , both of who were a giant part of entertainment throughout my life. Then it was the 17th anniversary of Princess Diana's death a few weeks ago, and my son and his girlfriend found me watching footage of her funeral on my laptop. When they both said "who is that?" I thought they were kidding, and after a few minutes of asking them questions, I realized they were not . That was such a huge part of history that I couldn't believe that a 17 and 18 year old did not know about it. I watched that funeral while rocking my 2 week old colicky son all night , crying both from lack of sleep and from the loss of a woman much too young to leave us. But these are my memories, not the youth of today. I can't expect them to hold these things as dear as I do. The reason I know every word to Paul Simon songs(among others) is they were in the background of my childhood. They left an imprint that stayed with me. I just hope the things leaving their mark on my children are as long lasting and worth while, but if not I have definitely snuck my fair share of "oldies" music in their heads so that maybe they'll be caught humming about Julio someday too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)