It’s That Time of Year
February 2, 2010
Last night the boys had baseball try-outs. Not the sort where they send you home and say too bad you can’t play, this is just to evaluate the kids and place them on teams.
On the other hand, my oldest son has spent the week trying out for the high school baseball team. It is a highly competitive team. Lots of boys trying out. Lots of boys who play baseball really well. He won’t know anything until tomorrow. Every night when he came home exhausted I would ask him how it went. I reminded him that he is not competing against all of those other boys, he is competing with himself. That his mindset isn’t supposed to be that he has to be better than all of those other kids, rather that he has to be the best that he can be. A subtle, but important distinction I think.
Every day he answered that he performed his best. So now we all just cross our fingers and wait. Feel free to cross your fingers along with us.
I write the kids little notes and stick them in their lunchbags when they have special things going on, big tests, whatever. The majority of the time the little notes go unmentioned. Sometimes I wonder if they really care about the notes or if they just roll their eyes and toss them out. Not that it matters, I think I write the notes for myself as much as for them.
This morning I was gathering the dirty laundry from my sons’ bedrooms (the laundry room is apparently a secret, invisible room because none of them can find it) and I saw this:
the note I had written him earlier in the week sitting on his bedside table, a little slice of his teenage life. Even though he would probably protest, I think he likes the notes.
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Good luck to your son!
I found a note I had written to my teenage stepdaughter tucked into her ribbon board in her room and it warmed my heart. I know exactly how you feel.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:26 amIt wasn’t until years later that I heard from my kids about my note writing. At first they were embarrassed that the other kids may see them. Then as they got older they use to share them with their peers as a cheering not only for themselves but for their closest friends.
You never know the good you do by sharing love and encouragement…..its just good to put it out there universe.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:29 amKeeping my fingers crossed for y’all!
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:37 amAhhhhh….and holy crap baseball already!?! We still have to finish basketball and because we live in a frozen wasteland my son thinks his bedroom is the appropriate place to practice dribbling.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:56 amyou and i lead parallel lives. only our tryout was cancelled again last night due to wet fields. (yay for me!) love the axe. (my life, yet again)
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:56 amI’m sure you’re right and I’m also sure you’d have to torture him to get him to admit it
(My 14 y/o will still hug me but only in the house…)
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:02 pmSWEET!
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:07 pmMy mom would draw a little smiley face in a heart on my napkin for lunch. I always loved them, even when it was uncool. I’m in my 40’s and when she’s in town and makes me lunch I’ll get a smiley face. Still love them.
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:22 pmThinking of you and your son, having a baseball player myself who is now going on to college to play, yes, baseball! Impossible dreams do come true sometimes so I will hope and pray for your son to be chosen amongst all the boys who are competing for those few openings. I love what you told him. It is encouraging and so very true in life and in sports. I used to yearn for the little league days when all the competition was only to see who got to be on which team, not the worry that our boy would not be chosen. I think his size will be a huge benefit (he looks very tall to me in the pictures) and coaches really like that especially when the kids are only 14 because they know there can be a lot more growing going on. In addition, he is a good student (yes, they like that too because they do not have to worry if the kid will stay eligible), and of course his mom is beautiful so I think that is another + in his favor!!!!!!
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:23 pmI put little notes in my kids’ lunch boxes every day. Like you, I didn’t think they cared much. Sometimes I’ll put in a joke from a book, or something. Then the other day my almost 13-yr old daughter and I were fighting, and when I went to clean out her lunchbox that evening, I found my note, ripped up into little pieces.
Ahhh, can you feel the love???
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:33 pmI always loved the notes from my mom…especially when I was a teenager; it gave me a way to let her be affectionate without me actually having to acknowledge it…back in those days when I was oddly hardwired to not WANT to acknowledge her affection…man teenagers are weird.
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 pmMy mom used to leave me notes in my lunch box too and although I might not have expressed my appreciation back then, I still remember how much it meant to me
That is definitely something I plan on doing for my kids someday.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 pmChris, I do the same thing–write encouraging notes to my kids and stick them in their lunches. And they never mention the notes. Recently, I had written one to my daughter, and I noticed that it stayed in her lunchbox for a few days, and I wasn’t even sure she had seen it or read it. Then, one day her water bottle had leaked a little and we had to clean out the lunchbox totally, and the note was wet. She said, “I guess I need to throw this away. But I was saving it.” So, yes, I think those notes do mean a lot to them.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:59 pmI am CERTAIN that he appreciates the notes. I didn’t get them often as a child, but I remember the ones that I did. They have stuck with me all of these years, and now I get to make them for my little guy!
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pmfingers crossed, tears streaming.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:15 pmWhat a sweet idea. Good luck to your son!
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:16 pmIs it sad that just seeing Axe makes me think of my stepson away at college and miss him a little more? Since the hugs and I love yous are so rare now, each becomes a little sweeter. I envy you photographic evidence that he cares.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:28 pmAwww! I bet that made it almost worth having to go in there to collect his laundry. *Almost.*
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:39 pmMy dad used to leave sweet or funny notes in my lunch bag when he made my school lunches. I treasured them, but I don’t think I ever told him so.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:27 pm*fingers crossed*
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:30 pmChris, that brought a tear to my eye. When I was younger, my dad used to make my lunch and I remember (and still have) the note he wrote me on my last day of 8th grade… I suspect he likes the notes. I sure did.
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:36 pmFingers crossed.
In my experience, laundry rooms are also invisible to husbands. Apparently washers and dryers are tricky suckers to find.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:25 pmNo doubt he likes the notes. And you are an awesome mom, Chris!
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 pmThey may never mention it but I think it does mean a lot to them and probably helps to know your thinking of them. I know my boys are that way too, they may never mention it but they so love the reminders that mom and dad are behind them and love them.
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:22 pmHa! I love the giant tub of Axe.
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:27 pmI think you do live with teen boys.
And therein lies the simple truth that you are an awesome mom.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:21 pmA touching post. Your mother’s heart will always root for them, always miss them, always write them notes, even when they’re grown and ‘gone’. And those tendernesses, they keep us company. You’re good to note them as you go.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:26 pmI think the notes are the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard of a mom doing for her kidlings. And don’t you think for a minute they don’t cherish every single note. I don’t care if they roll their eyes and SAY out loud they are lame (I know they don’t), I would bet a zillion dollars they love every single one. I wish I had thought of something so loving and lovely to do for my daughter. How loved and special it must make your children feel. Good job, Mom!
P.S. My fingers are crossed so hard. On both hands.
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:39 pmOh boy, I love baseball. Since my ‘baseball boy’ is now 23 and a real grown up, I have to enjoy the game through the eyes of others. Keep us updated! And lots of pictures of them all.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:41 pmWe have tryouts soon as well. Son is a freshman and is really worried. He can’t imagine not playing baseball in high school after all these years. The real pain is talking with parents last year who said things like, “Oh, only the kids who have been on elite teams in middle school will make it to the high school team because otherwise the coaches won’t even know who you are.” Isn’t that awful? He’s just got to try his best and hope that stupid adult politics doesn’t play any sort of role in high school baseball. Unfortunately, we know that it does.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:42 pmMy mom would frequently write me notes in my lunch bag when I was in school. I always liked them, even if I did try to hide their existence from my friends at the table. She and I work at the same doctors’ office and every once in a while I’ll come in to a note on my desk. It’s still kind of nice.
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:29 pmOh, they most definitely like their notes. It’s always nice to think their mom is thinking about them during the day. I’m 20 years old and miss my mom’s notes.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:20 amMy 14yo son has high school baseball try-outs next week. I am dreading it. He’s so excited, and even though he’s played for nearly 10 years on the city league, I’m still very nervous for him. Like you said–this isn’t simply a “placement” kind of thing anymore.
I write notes, too. I guarantee our kids all cherish them, or–at the very least–will someday when they’re older.
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:15 amwe have baseball times 2 again this season, and I know it isn’t as many as you have, but know that everytime we have to divide up just to make all the practices and games, and everytime my little ones beg to go to the concession stand to buy junk food, I always think of you…
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:36 amI love this!
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:58 amYou truly have knowledge in everything, and that’s what amazes me!
The thing about being at your own best rather than competing with others and getting frustrated about it is so true at sports, of course the player in question has to have some talent to begin with and reading the old posts about him playing all the time I’m sure he’s got what’s needed and he’ll be selected. Fingers crossed!
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:55 amFor me it was my grandma. She put a stick of gum in every card she’s ever sent me. The kind that is one stick out out of a big pack. She would write ‘I Love You’ on the white wrapper. She doesn’t send cards anymore but I have one stick…maybe the last one she sent. She’s 86 and I’m 45.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:33 amGood luck to your boys.
How funny you mention the notes! I write them for my 16 year old sons,too. I wasn’t sure if they read them at all or were embarassed by them, and then I found a bunch in the clear part of one’s binder just the other day. I asked about it, and he told me he reads them to his friends at the lunch table everyday!
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:13 amGood luck to your oldest!! And thanks for the post! It reminded me that our baseball signups are tonite
Time for that season to start yet again- and last forever.. and ever… and ever…
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 amMy sixth grade boy just stabbed me in the heart the other day when he asked me why I never sent notes in his lunch. Apparently it is a very common practice! Who knew?? In my defense, my excuse is that I have packed approximately 8000 lunches over the last 21 yrs of being a school parent and its my least favorite part of the morning, YES, including dragging teenagers out of their beds!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:42 amI like the notes idea. Our girls will be in first grade next year, so I’m thinking about putting notes in their lunches once in a while. Of course I have to put a note in each lunch box on the same day or else one will be upset. It’s one of those things about having young twins.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:25 amFingers crossed in ct. I can not believe that it has been a year since you left for TX. The time flies by. Good luck to all your boys. Is daughter picking up a spring sport?? The photo of note on dresser is priceless.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:11 pmFingers are crossed, maybe a little late but I hope it went well. Keep us posted as I’m sure you will. This was a sweet post. I think I’ll start that little note writing thing with my children (3 and 5) as they get older and can actually read the notes. Although, my son knows a few words like love so I think tomorrow I’ll put in one that says I love You. Especially since we had a rough morning getting ready for school today. Ahh, Mom guilt.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pmI’m trying to get your RSS feed but i’m getting an error. Please let me know when it’s ready, I love the site. Thank you!
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February 10th, 2010 at 1:23 amcan you come back here and tell us if the oldest son (with the most pressure of course)made the team?
February 11th, 2010 at 9:20 am