Six Minutes of Fame

Our 4th grade daughter and 2nd grade son spent the past 4 Saturdays learning and playing basketball as "The Little Chieftains". Last Thursday and Friday nights, the Little Chieftains took the court at halftime of the varsity games.

This is a bad picture, but it's the only close-up I have of Ally doing her ball-handling drills.

Here she is, the only time she got the ball! She made a nice pass inside to a "post" player (AKA taller girl--I don't know much about basketball. My junior high bb coach told me to NOT go out for the sport in high school!)



And then it was Cy's turn. He's the one in orange shorts not running because his pull-on sneakers are WAY TOO BIG (although he insists to the contrary).

Here he is on the bench. Six minutes of fame really means about 2 minutes of playing time (remember, this is a varsity half-time).

Needless to say, his physical education teacher father took him to an athletic shoe store the very next day to have his feet sized. We bought him a pair of TIE shoes that actually fit. The only thing we all agreed upon was the color. Mask-the-dirt Black!

I'm not sure what kind of a Sports Mom I will be. I have had several years practice of being the Coach's Wife, which is nerveracking/adrenaline-rushing in itself. But now we're talking our own kids. That adds an element of intensity. I was glad it was just 4 weeks and 6 minutes. I wasn't too stressed out; in fact, I really enjoyed it, laughing sometimes. I wonder, am I not "into it" enough? I look over at my husband, the coach/athletic director/phys. ed teacher and see his calm, happy manner. Shouldn't he be yelling at the kids, telling them what to do and encouraging their every move? No, we are not like that. We put it in perspective and have fun with it. They're just kids, and sports are meant to be fun. Of course we want them to try their hardest and do their best. But in the end, it is a game and what it teaches is process, not product.

Now if I can just remember that when we hit middle school...