Tonight, we took Philip to our church gym for his Upward Basketball assessment. My firstborn baby is signed up to play on a basketball team!!! It will be a team of 4- and 5-year-olds. Wait, you're thinking, Philip is only 3? Yes, he turns 4 on January 22, a week or two after the first game. We were told that he would be fine and we thought so too until tonight.
After waiting in line for almost 40 minutes (it was more grueling that voting this morning!), Philip was given the basketball (full-sized) and asked to make as many baskets as he could in an allotted timeslot. He threw with all his might but the ball was about 5 feet short of the basket. Next came dribbling the ball down a line, around an orange cone and back up the line. He looked poised and knew which hand to dribble with. Oh, if that ball didn't just keep rolling away from him.
When he finished, Matthew whispered to me, "I'm wondering if he's still just too young." We voiced our concern to Sean, the assessment "judge" and a friend of our's, but he reassured us that he had seen ALL skill levels tonight and that Philip's coaches would work with him.
I am so proud of my little guy, but this evening's event just opened a whole new world of emotions in my heart. Will he be ok? Will other kids laugh? Will he get discouraged and feel bad about himself? Should I protect his naive spirit from "the real world" for a little while longer?
There are days when I feel like an old pro at being Mom. But then come days like today. It reminds me just how young my little ones are, and how even though I know Philip is the coolest preschooler I know, he's only been on this earth for 3 1/2 years. Sometimes I think I've overinflated his ego (he is often the strongest, coolest superhero there ever way) because what I really hope to instill in him (and Braewyn) is a love for Jesus and a desire to help other people. When I think about it that way, it becomes very overwhelming. Teaching him means I must model it myself. Going to bed, needing sleep, parenting two wonderful blessings tomorrow.
1 comment:
I was worried about Jaina, too, after soccer evaluations (she couldn't dribble the ball or run very fast) and yet they put her on a team of 1st-3rd graders who were all better than her and had played before.
And you know what? Jaina had a blast and learned a TON from the older kids :) You just have to trust that the Upward leaders have been doing this a long time and know what they are doing :)
Jaina will be cheering for him... literally! :)
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