Most Important Post Ever on TBR

Two memories that stands out and make me laugh every time i think about it involves Mikal. The first one is when he was around 5 or 6. Every time alex had a little league game at steel creek, mikal would disrupt it by running on the field with Alex hand me down uniform on that they kept. He would go on the field and cry, and cry until they let him in the dugout. The second one is when mikal was 7 and alex was 11. Alex was playing in a fall game at coul-oak and they only had 8 players so mikal had to play. The pitcher for coul-oak was throwing hard and mikal's first time at bat, his mother(i know she's smiling from heaven) screamed out, don't you hit my baby. The very pitch hit him square in the back and he went down like a sniper hit him. I have never seen a woman jump a fence so fast. Posters they do grow up so fast, but their is always memories that make you laugh and smile.

 

Hahaha...great story

 

This is one of the most meaningful posts I have ever read, anywhere!

 

Braves, I agree with you 100%. For some reason I need to read this about once a week.

 

thanks. again.

 

Most important

I cannot begin to think of the many things that my son has given me to remember.

The day I took hold of him the minute he was born. The minutes we spent as I walked and carried him to the newborne nursery. The way he looked up at me while we walked. The way he looked at me when I placed him in the crib. The way he raised up off his stomach to see me.

God gives gifts to us and asks us to appreciate them.

Of course it just keeps going.

Oh yeah and then there is baseball.

The first time he hit it over. He and I went to the field as we had many times before. He was close and then I told him to pull it.

He brought his swing and used his hips and it cleared the fence. Some 200ft away.

Hi fives.

 

I love to watch my kid play baseball, but I believe it really beginning to get out of control. Some High school coachs are excepting way more than I will give. Thankfully I'm a few years away from my kid being in high school, but watching from the outside. We got more to do than baseball, year round.

 

Braves, while I don't know Cougar, I think I know what he speaks of. This thread is not the place to discuss it however there are a lot of frustrated parenst and kids out there. Maybe it deserves it's own thread.

Back to this thread topic. I had my wife read the original post by the ecu78. It's so true. But it's also hard being a parent. We took that post and applied it to other aspects besides sports. Like schoolwork. You want to encourage but every now and then I think some need a kick in the butt. And I doubt he's the only one. We do need to encourage all the time but every now and then a little push is needed. I gues how that is delivered is part of the tough part of parenting.

I will say this. At the beginning of the football season my wife and I said we were going to be 100% positive. Encourage, love, celebrate, and only discuss an issue if he wanted to. It has made a big difference. I've never seen my son so confident. His confidence never waivers. He believes in himself more than before on the field and in the classroom. It's posts like the one above that remind us how we as parents can impact his growth.

 

Powerful and insightful post. It got me to thinking back to those little league years coaching my oldest. I can so vividly remember the not so great games where mom had to take the others home in a different car while Mac and I took the LONG way home. During these drives, he caught hell about every failed at bat, base on balls allowed, etc. Looking back on it, its a miracle that he didn't just quit and be done with that mess. Its funny though because somewhere around eleven or twelve, I realized he LOVED the game and was motivating himself. At that point, our whole relationship changed concernng baseball. I just wish I had realized it sooner.

 

..deep breaths...

First of all, the original post made me cry (not pretty when you're at work). I am awed by ECU's strength and I can't even imagine what he's gone/going through.

Second. This fall, my son, two of his buddies, another mom and myself were traveling up through Ramseur, NC to go to a tournament. The boys have been playing ball together since they were 8 years old at Olde Providence and are still together at 16. Anyway, we recalled that they plaed a State championship game from when they were 8/9 somewhere in the area where we were travelling through and since we had time, we decided we would try to find the field and see if there were any games going on. Well, someHOW, we found the field (I can't believe I remembered) and sure enough, there were some rec. all star games going on. We told the money man that we were just passing through and that our big boys just wanted to have a look. He let us in. We drove down, parked the car and got out. Our boys TOWERED over these little guys and it seemed like it was just yesterday that we were watching these guys playing there. The little guys were SOOOO TINY! We stood and watched and told some parents about why we were there. They thought it was cool. We watched some kid hit a bomb and the boys were thrilled! After a little while (and some annoying bugs), we decided to hit the road. I think the boys appreciated us taking a moment to slow down, take a detour and enjoy a little nostalgia. It brought back so many great memories. My son told me in the car that after one play when he was 8 or something, that he made a catch and throw from his knees (he made the out) and he said I said "Oh Jack, that was such a great throw you made from your knees!" (his imitation of me was very high-pitched, I don't talk that way) and I was somewhat confused (I thought he was making fun of me). I said "Was that wrong? Didn't you do that and wasn't it a good thing?" He said "no, it was right. Yeah, it was good." I have a VAGUE recollection of it...but HE remembered.... That made me feel good...