What Else is Practice For?

I wasn't brought up in a house where we did any sports. When I say that, I mean my family did not play, watch, or sign me up for ANY sports. EVER.

My son's involved in baseball and football- this was culture shock at first. I'm used to it now, but it took a while.

You might wish, on some days, that you were that parent who didn't have to spend countless hours on the sidelines, but as we all know, sports is one of the top ways to decrease the chances of teenage drug and alcohol abuse, so we sit on the sidelines or in the stands to watch our kids play.

There are times it feels great to be out there, other times you might not feel not feel like watching. So what do you do?

Well of course there's the most common things, after watching your child play...
--socializing with fellow parents, emailing, texting or Facebooking, and don't forget Pinterest, but have you ever just sat back and used that time to think? How about read? Plan your family menu for the month? Pay bills?

We always say we don't have enough time in the day, and when we add multiple practices and games to the mix, we just sigh about another night where nothing will get done.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Being outside on a nice day (especially if you work indoors) is the best place to take a deep breath and relax, or put your mind to a small task you've been putting off, like filling out school paperwork or planning your weekend.

During the summer, at baseball practice, I liked to watch my son play, but I also planned my classroom lessons for church, logged all the game days into my calendar, and reviewed my schedule for the rest of the week. I had fun, got some much needed vitamin D and was quite productive. Now, it's football season and I try my best to bring work with me, a book to read and take a break to balance the fun stuff of socializing and social media.

Not many parents have idle time. Practices and games are a great solution to that, because our butt is firmly planted for more than 30 seconds (and its not sleeping, at work, driving the car, or.... well, the other place we sit still).


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