- Jul 14, 2018
- 982
- 93
There's been some good discussion on here lately about allowing our kids to find their own path. In particular, this post resonated with me:
I didn't want to detour that thread so a I started a new one.
DD is 13, and a pitcher. Right now, she has practice two days a week and lessons on a third day. That's about eight hours of softball per week, plus an additional four hours of travel time. It's a lot, but she still enjoys it. Last fall, we got a personalized workout routine for her that she's supposed to be doing three days a week. It slots in nicely between her practice days.
The problem is, she's just not doing it. She understands that it's going to make her better, but on those days when she has no other obligations she just wants to get her homework done and then crawl into bed and watch Netflix. I ask her about it periodically, but I've stopped short of demanding that she do it. I don't want softball to become a chore.
Part of me wants to let her find her way. She's the #1 pitcher on her team now, but I know the other girls are busting their butts to get more circle time. Complacency is not a character trait that I want to encourage, but I also feel like she has to lose ground in order to find her own motivation. I also know that long hours of training will be required if she wants to get to the next level.
So fellow parents: have you had to help your daughter navigate that transition from natural talent to acquired talent? Did you push too hard or not hard enough?
I see a bunch of 19 YO kids in my classes that have had their parents micromanage their lives and it isn't pretty...
In some cases it is ok for parents to allow their children to makes mistakes...
I didn't want to detour that thread so a I started a new one.
DD is 13, and a pitcher. Right now, she has practice two days a week and lessons on a third day. That's about eight hours of softball per week, plus an additional four hours of travel time. It's a lot, but she still enjoys it. Last fall, we got a personalized workout routine for her that she's supposed to be doing three days a week. It slots in nicely between her practice days.
The problem is, she's just not doing it. She understands that it's going to make her better, but on those days when she has no other obligations she just wants to get her homework done and then crawl into bed and watch Netflix. I ask her about it periodically, but I've stopped short of demanding that she do it. I don't want softball to become a chore.
Part of me wants to let her find her way. She's the #1 pitcher on her team now, but I know the other girls are busting their butts to get more circle time. Complacency is not a character trait that I want to encourage, but I also feel like she has to lose ground in order to find her own motivation. I also know that long hours of training will be required if she wants to get to the next level.
So fellow parents: have you had to help your daughter navigate that transition from natural talent to acquired talent? Did you push too hard or not hard enough?