This week marks the second full week that we don’t have to deal with football practice and I am good with that.
Now that football season is over and my eyelid has stopped twitching from nervousness that my son will get hurt, I am looking for the good sport. Not for me – for my son – but maybe it really is for me.
The good sport is one where your kid will never get hurt. No concussions, no broken bones, no bruises. Nothing to make a mother’s eyelid twitch or require trips to the hospital, doctor’s office or drug store. Nothing that requires an ambulance parked like a lady-in-waiting at each game.
Earlier this summer, I thought perhaps it was golf until we went to a driving range. My son swung and the club flew off and went about 150 yards. It was farther than any ball he hit. On the next swing, he hit the ground and the club actually broke in half. My eye started to twitch right about then. The looks from the guy behind the counter drove us from the range soon after. (Too bad you can’t just putt the whole time. I’d be okay with just putts.)
Now basketball season has begun and I am hoping he won’t hit the wall, fall, twist something or get poked in the eye or some other painful place. I am the wimp, not him. It is my job to worry and I do it very well.
Until the games begin I hope to enjoy the next couple of weekends with calm eyelids. While waiting to pick up our kids, I shared my problematic twitch with one of the other moms. She suggested (very sweetly too) that I wear an eye patch. Perfect. A pirate. Just call me Peg.
“Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway.” ~ Mary C. Crowley
8 responses so far ↓
1 Karen Vogel // Nov 13, 2007 at 10:20 am
You’ve got to block it out. As in, not think at all that something can happen to your kids. Once you let one tiny worry through, the floodgates open and you are a nervous wreck. You should have seen me in the car on Sunday night. I realized that I and all my loved ones were hurtling along in a vulnerable steel capsule at 60 mph, and I almost went berserk. Thank goodness I had my knitting with me.
2 Rebecca // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hmm…what about swimming? Or track/cross country? Are those safer sports? My hubby wants our son to play baseball, relatively safe. I think football would make me nervous too.
3 Angelawd // Nov 13, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I was going to suggest swim team, too. Um, unless you’re likely to worry about drowning. Sorry, I just ruined it for you, huh?
4 Mary // Nov 13, 2007 at 4:47 pm
That is so funny about the swim team. He did do that last year and broke two teeth and got a small concussion doing a flip turn. HA! He does to track but that is in the spring. I do have to stop thinking about it. Maybe a glass of wine before the game?
5 Keli // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I went through the same with my kids when they took Tae Kwon Do. Whenever it was time to earn a higher belt, a test was required, e.g., time to break a wooden board…with their feet. I had the eye twitch along with heart palpitations for added fun. Once they got their black belts, we moved on, for my sake. I gave them two choices: golf or tennis. Thank goodness golf worked! Four years later and no mishaps. The key is to get past the club flinging and breaking in half. A good instructor doesn’t hurt either. Good luck!
6 robert bourne // Nov 14, 2007 at 5:28 pm
It’s a son’s sworn obligation to cause his mother ulcers..it’s in the contract in small print…:):)..I’m over 50 and mine still hasn’t forgiven me….:):)
7 Mary Alice // Nov 16, 2007 at 8:48 pm
I have a boy. He is 17. Until I had a boy I had never even been to an ER…..now they ask me to take our own cat scans and get the plaster for the casts.
8 Joe // Nov 19, 2007 at 1:05 am
Let him compete as hard as he can. Boys need that outlet or they may turn to something more ridiculous and the fact that you support him through all the bumps and bruises is awesome. I admire your tenacity in the face of injury. There have been some interesting studies done that show suburban young men going into the army to get into the infantry or where they can see “action” since the suburban life can be sedate, and on the other side of that there are urban kids who live with violence everyday and join the armed services to take on career work like computer science and health related fields as opposed to front line combat. It is something to ponder as you think about the psychology behind aggressive natured sports and what some underlining positives are of those activities that aren’t so obvious as teamwork and esteem. Peace Mary!