In the DC area, you sign up for baseball at the beginning of January. This seems very bizarre to me, as I am not thinking about outdoor sports in this weather. Last year, Tyler was deployed and both Calvin and Silas played their first year of baseball. Silas fit right in with the other kids, many of whom were playing baseball on a team for the first time with him. With Calvin, however, every child on his team had been playing for at least two years, some more than that. It was incredibly obvious that Calvin was in over his head.
First of all, Calvin is small. He is 0% on the weight/height scale. His team jersey was HUGE on him (one-size-fits-all?) and if he tucked it in, then it looked ridiculous! If he untucked it, it hung down to his knees (I'm not even kidding).
Secondly, he had never played any kind of organized sport. He didn't know what any of the rules were and he didn't know how to hit a ball. To make things harder, Tyler was deployed, so he couldn't practice with Calvin. A nice friend of ours took Calvin out a couple of times to teach him some of the rules. But Calvin figured out that he wasn't as good as the other kids, and as much as he wanted to be there and play - he was embarrassed when he messed up compared to the other boys.
Baseball registration just opened up and I asked the boys if they wanted to play. Silas was emphatic that YES he wanted to play again. When I approached Calvin, he got tears in his eyes and said that he wasn't good at baseball. #heartbreaking
At this point, I don't know what to do. It was hard juggling two baseball schedules last year. Tyler wasn't here and I spent 4 days a week driving to/from practices/games. It would certainly be easier for me to just register Silas. But if I register Calvin and I take him and he performs similarly this year, will that just lower his self esteem about baseball? Tyler will be here this year, so it would be easier to juggle. But we are also in the midst of an adoption and will be moving to Texas right as the baseball season is ending. But what if Calvin plays and he practices outside of baseball and then he grows to love it?! I'm so conflicted. Being a parent is TOUGH.
2 comments:
I would encourage him to play on the team. Even if he learns one new thing, it could boost his self esteem. He has a perception that...I'm not good at it, so why try? Maybe you can help him switch that around to.....I can do well with at least one thing in the game if I keep trying and practicing. With team sports, everyone has something they can contribute....even if it's being the best cheerer/encourager of your team mates. :) After every game, you can ask him what he learned. For example, if he played and continually dropped the ball....you can cue him that he learned he needs to practice catching to get better. Or maybe he learned and he great at encouraging a team member to run!! Maybe ask him to look for one thing....only one....the other boys do better that he wants to get better at too. Then I'd encourage him to work on that one skill. Self esteem comes from doing and practicing and being challenged and getting better and seeing we can do it for ourselves. I'm rooting for him!
Hi Bonnie! Thank you for your comment. I just enrolled Calvin in baseball! Here's hoping for a better season this year. :D
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