Lean into Leisure

Okay, I can’t keep up; not with the Kardashians, no. I can totes keep up with them. What I can’t keep up with is my children and sports. Or rather, other parents and their kids’ sports.

Is it me, or has dedication to your kids playing sports gone haywire? Like, legit off the rails. I know for a fact when I was growing up, there was no such thing as four games a weekend and three practices during the week. I was lucky to maybe take gymnastics once a week (where I hid in the locker room because I was afraid of the bars). And I didn’t even pick up a field hockey or lacrosse stick until seventh grade, and I played D3 in college. Nowadays, you can enroll your 5-year-old in “Little Scoopers” lacrosse…and parents actually do.

I am the outlier.

I am the person who may be the shitty mom not registering her children in more than one sport each season, and I don’t even do travel. No, we do the town rec league, which is apparently like the Dollar Tree of sports. Travel teams are Nieman Marcus. And national teams? That’s Bergdorf Goodman.

I was at my son’s town basketball game this morning, and the mom seated in the stands next to me was talking about how she was at a game last night, and they have two more today and two tomorrow. This was my one and only game for the weekend. I mean, she may be onto something, because her son is amazing at basketball. Of course, he should be with all that practice. In addition, she was talking to the dads around her about planning for the national lacrosse team season opener in Delaware, and how they need to start reserving hotels now, months in advance. Gurl, I need a hotel rezzie, too, but not for a lax game. No, I need a Tahitian vacay.

So why am I not pushing this on my son?

Well, for two reasons. One, he just isn’t interested in it. If he were out there shooting hoops on his own or asking to play more sports, I’d do it. But to just manifest chaos in my life by having to drive him to Uganda for games, and necessitating that I miss work and leisure time for all of us, yeah, no. That’s not going to happen unless there is some passion fueling it.

I sort of wish he had more passion for, say, hockey, because then I could be a hockey mom. I feel like being a hocky mom, or whatever-sport mom, is like when you are in a college sorority. You kind of have insta-friends. Just add water. You immediately have plans, just like the sorority formals, tailgates and keg parties, and you are surrounded by like-minded women. Not being a sports mom, it’s like I’m in the AV club, like Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills 90210. I don’t like being a loser. Um, note to self: please never compare yourself to Andrea on 90210 again. I just fell into deep depression.

So, tell me: is it worth it? Am I missing out on all of these sports and a better life? Y’all kind of complain about how crazy life is, and how you don’t have time for anything. Isn’t this kind of messing up your mojo? Why make life so difficult? Lean into town leagues. Lean into leisure.

I am not saying I have the answers. I can see an argument for both sides. And it sucks, because if you don’t get on the bandwagon, then your kid is going to be left behind in sports. It’s the same thing with tutors. If you don’t now hire a tutor, your kid may not get into college. Can we all just agree to not get a tutor, and then we can be even?

If we would all just chill the eff out, then no one would get left behind.

It’s like when they ask why people are standing outside in line so early at the DMV. If no one got there too early, then we could all sleep in a little. But, no, we have to keep up.

I can’t. Keep up.

Or, maybe I don’t want to.