I guess the best description of me now would be a read-faced-woman, with steam coming out of my ears and nostrils !! Once again, I opened my mouth on paper, well....specifically in an e-mail. You see, my eldest daughter has been playing field hockey since her 5th birthday and she is now about to turn 13. I am proud to say that with the effort she puts into it, she has made the best teams for a few years now. As her mother I am incredibly proud of this achievement and I encourage her as much as I can, by attending as many of her matches against other star talents as possible. Yes, I say 'as possible' because I have two other kids, who I am equally proud of and whom I also like to encourage in their sporting activities.
Being a single mom, I try to keep things as uncomplicated as possible, so for convenience sake, all three kids play field hockey (luckily they also love it). This way, everything happens in one place (the Club). The Club is about a 15 minute drive from home, a road I have frequented more over these past 8 years than any other in my life, so much so, that it sometimes feels like the Club is our second home. We are there on Monday's, Wednesday's, Friday's and Saturday's....and even though it looks like a nice place to spend sunny afternoons sipping tea, (or as some prefer; wine) the glamour of it wears off by the perpetual visits. It's like a relationship, you need some time apart sometimes to bring back some of the old 'spark'.
This 'time-apart' is what I like to call...'the Holidays' ....they are a much loved time of peace and rest, provided by school, and all sorts of other authorities, so you'd expect the same to be true for sports clubs...but noooooo !! These girls are so highly motivated and encouraged by colleague sports-fanatics that they will be training during the 'holidays' much to my dismay. You see, I don't want to be a 'Cruella de Vil' who prohibits her daughter to join them, but I do want a vacation from that cobble road I travel on sometimes 13 times a week....most of all though, I want my daughter to have time to enjoy the other things in life, because believe it or not, there is a whole world out there just waiting to be explored and it's not all within the boundaries of a hockey field.
The problem is, of course, a 'conscience' one....if I don't let her go, she will think it's not fair as she might miss out on some essential stuff, which could put her at a disadvantage, in a team where, however proud I am, she has to work her butt off to keep up with the better players. I don't want that to happen either, because her efforts should not be ruined by my need for a break from this scene and roadtrip. If I do let her go, it will seem as if I'm supporting this sporty overdose, which I am definately not.
So what to do in this case ? Give into this fanatic neurosis, that will only get worse as Christmas holidays, Easter holidays and even summer holidays will prove to be great practice opportunities for even better and bolder results...who are we kidding here ?! If you are shoved into something you feel forced into, you'll end up hating it ...so lets just enjoy the holidays and let go of all the 'must do's'....Please, pretty please.
