Notes on Raising Your Kid to Be an All-Star Athlete Sports Fan
Monday, December 31, 2007
A Varsity Dad's New Year's Resolution
More posts on VarsityDad.com. (Seriously.)
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
You wrote:
Now, if he didn't like sports at all? Tougher question. I actually think there's a certain minimum level of sports interest that anyone/everyone should have in order to simply function in society—particularly "guy society." Being able to talk about sports is social currency—perhaps its most potent form.
Well I am a pretty big sports fan. I am not a real fanatic because deep down I don’t really care but I do enjoy sports. I root for all the NY teams with a preference for the Yanks over the Mets, Jets over the Giants but still I root for all area teams. I am also a big Syracuse football and basketball fan due to living in Syracuse for 8 years and my kids being born there and also getting my Masters degree from the university. We have since settled on Long Island. I have two sons, 12 and 16 years old. My 12 year old likes playing basketball and runs on the cross country team. My 16 year old runs on the cross country and track teams in high school. Despite taking them to a couple sporting events each year such as a Syracuse football and basketball game this year, Islander hockey game and a Yankee game neither could care less about sports. Despite the fact that my younger son really likes playing basketball, he would watch the Syracuse game with me on TV last night for more than a minute. My wife is a self professed sports agnostic. She couldn’t care less one way or the other.
They sometimes ask me about what is happening in a major sports event so they won’t feel left out at school but basically it doesn’t bother them. They are both very good students, really love music and seem happy. Here is what I feel. It is not my job to say that my interests are more important than their’s are. As a parent I will try to expose them to things. If they like them - then great. If they don’t, well no problem. I love chess. They don’t. I would really love to play with them but it is not happening. Instead, I try to share their interests with them. A big part of being a parent is realizing your kids are not miniature versions of you, they are their own independent personalities. There is so much more nature than nurture in defining who someone is than we typically believe.
1 comment:
You wrote:
Now, if he didn't like sports at all? Tougher question. I actually think there's a certain minimum level of sports interest that anyone/everyone should have in order to simply function in society—particularly "guy society." Being able to talk about sports is social currency—perhaps its most potent form.
Well I am a pretty big sports fan. I am not a real fanatic because deep down I don’t really care but I do enjoy sports. I root for all the NY teams with a preference for the Yanks over the Mets, Jets over the Giants but still I root for all area teams. I am also a big Syracuse football and basketball fan due to living in Syracuse for 8 years and my kids being born there and also getting my Masters degree from the university. We have since settled on Long Island. I have two sons, 12 and 16 years old. My 12 year old likes playing basketball and runs on the cross country team. My 16 year old runs on the cross country and track teams in high school. Despite taking them to a couple sporting events each year such as a Syracuse football and basketball game this year, Islander hockey game and a Yankee game neither could care less about sports. Despite the fact that my younger son really likes playing basketball, he would watch the Syracuse game with me on TV last night for more than a minute. My wife is a self professed sports agnostic. She couldn’t care less one way or the other.
They sometimes ask me about what is happening in a major sports event so they won’t feel left out at school but basically it doesn’t bother them. They are both very good students, really love music and seem happy. Here is what I feel. It is not my job to say that my interests are more important than their’s are. As a parent I will try to expose them to things. If they like them - then great. If they don’t, well no problem. I love chess. They don’t. I would really love to play with them but it is not happening. Instead, I try to share their interests with them. A big part of being a parent is realizing your kids are not miniature versions of you, they are their own independent personalities. There is so much more nature than nurture in defining who someone is than we typically believe.
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