I’m usually looking for them, but sometimes life lessons hit me right on the head like a foul ball hailing from the sky. This tee ball season was my son’s first and we’ve learned a few lessons that I didn’t anticipate.
Most of them are crazy metaphors that I couldn’t stop thinking about or analogies that were obvious to anyone. Some are specific to raising multiracial children, though most are just about being decent human beings. Either way, here are a few life lessons we learned from tee ball this year.
Life Lessons Learned From Tee Ball
Through the good and the bad, here are a few life lessons we’ve learned from our first season of tee ball.
Teamwork makes the dream work: I feel lucky to have had such a great coach/person as my little man’s first. Not only is she (SHE!) a mom, she has a ton of experience playing the sport, as well as supporting her boys through their seasons of tee ball. One thing she focused on through positive reinforcement was the importance of teamwork. She challenged them to make legitimate outs (even if they weren’t being scored), held team huddles after each game to disburse game balls and, in general, successfully corralled 10 tiny boys to (willingly and enthusiastically) focus on a team goal every single week. It’s hard to learn the importance of teamwork and cooperation without actually experiencing it and it’s definitely a life lesson I want my boy to grow up with as he matures.
Winning is subjective: There was one game that Sebastian did exceptionally awful. He couldn’t focus, was aloof and had to hit off the tee at each of his 3 at-bats (vs. coach pitch). And then…. he earned the game ball. I was shocked, and actually a little embarrassed, so I asked the coach why she gave it to him. She said, “Sebastian obviously had a rough game, but he stayed on the field and tried his best. And he smiled the whole time! He’s such a happy, sweet kid and that makes him a winner to me.” I felt like such a jerk! Of course my baby is a winner! I was reminded that day that winning is subjective. Sometimes it’s absolutely about coming out the victor, and other times it’s just about getting through the game with a smile on your face. Which leads me to….
Life (like baseball) is a game of averages: Baseball is a sport where you can hit the ball only one time out of three and still be a phenomenal player. Tee ball has reinforced to my son the lesson of perseverance; that one at-bat doesn’t determine the outcome of the game. I was reminded, too, that life’s most precious successes aren’t found in single moments. Rather, its the averages that matter more; how you treat people over time and distance, the communities you foster and keep, the goals you work towards and the values you align with when life gets hard.
It’s their at-bat… and their life: During several months of our first tee ball season, I worked this metaphor in head over and over again. Enduring the anxiety of watching your kid take the plate, anticipating their success or failure, over and over again, will do that to you. In this sport, as in life, moms have no control once it’s their player’s time to take the field. Baseball, while a great team sport, is founded on the individual’s ability to propel the game forward. It’s their at-bat, their life, and all we can do is help them prepare for success.
Douche bags exist: So, in baseball, there is a term used to reference the culture of baseball players and it’s not what I would consider a positive reflection. Douche bags, according to my personal experience (of which I won’t go into detail), are mean, confrontational, demanding and, in the absence of diversity, prejudice towards anyone different. I’m not saying all baseball players are douche bags by any means, but I am saying that they’re there. And we noticed. In fact, tee ball has offered my son his first lesson in racial identity at the tender age of four. Yay. Life and baseball are filled with douche bags.
Sports friends are special: Sebastian was luck to play his first tee ball season with his very best friend. Not only because they got to spend time together, but being sports friends gives a friendship a complexity that playground play or playdates don’t offer. Some of my oldest friends are from my soccer days, as we’re tied by binds that run deep, and I hope my kids’ have special sports friends as they grow up, too.
Be baseball ready: My son learned how to be “baseball ready” and that lesson can also be applied to life. (Again, his tee ball coach was AWESOME!) I’ve always loved the game’s flow; the focus and intensity, the systematic rules of play, followed by a few seconds of impressive athleticism. Being “baseball ready” is being prepared for anything to come at you. You learn to react appropriately, to move with confidence, to trust your teammates, to be ready for anything.
It was only his first season, but I hope my son falls in love with this sport. Or any sport, really. Learning to commit to an organized, team sport is something I want for both of my babies. Baseball offers life lessons that can help a child navigate their world while building an identity and community.
At the very least, for me, this season of tee ball has helped shaped my motherhood in ways I never anticipated.
No Comments