Five things friday (how can school be starting already?)

Geez-o-petes... some of us have yet to turn the page on July and schools are already starting again! Time sure seems to be flyin' for no more fun than I'm havin'. Anyway...

1. PLAYING UP

Our first grandchild is entering high school this year. She had volleyball tryouts this week. We weren't worried about her making the team (though not everyone did), but are more interested in *which* team she's will be on. It sounds like she would rather be on the freshman team with her friends. That is the safe space. However, during summer workouts, she was moved up to the JV and sometimes even Varsity teams. Moving her up could be great in terms of the experience she will gain, as well as the fact there won't be quite as much pressure placed on her (as a freshman). Anything she provides will be a positive, as opposed to being depended on to be one of the top freshman on the freshman team. Regardless, my main hope is that it's not too much for her. She can be fairly fragile (like yours truly), and I don't want to see her lose her love for sports, because they have had such a positive impact on her life! She has a real innate sense as an athlete, and she could be really, really good... if she sticks with it. Either way, we are and will be super proud of her! She's the best in my book!!

2. WHAT DOES PLAY EVEN MEAN?

Speaking of pressure... Ted Gioia (The Honest Broker) has a nice piece: 'Why Do Children Hate Music Lessons,' which delves into this a bit (btw, it's a substack read, but you don't have to subscribe to read it). As he says, "An athlete plays a sport. An actor plays a role. And a musician plays an instrument. Everybody else goes to work." At least those are the WORDS we use, but is that what's really ...ahem... at play? Why do we tend to make even those endeavors seem like work (especially for children)? He definitely offers something to think about... as always.

3. A NEW GAME TO PLAY

Sticking to the 'play' theme... I subscribe to Tim Ferriss's weekly newsletter (just one place I stole this 'five things' idea from), and he has actually created a new card game: Coyote. It seems simple enough, and looks like a bit of fun for kids and adults! You can order it HERE, and there's a video of how to play it HERE. Although, the grandsons did teach us how to play UNO ATTACK last week, and it was unexpectedly exciting as well. :)

4. SCHOOL

Enough with the child's play, eh... Let's talk about the start of school. Man, what a downer... at least for me. I absolutely hated school - and it wasn't just because my dad was the high school principal! I never liked it, and it's weird how - even to this day - I get real sad at this time of year. I see kids getting school supplies, waiting at the bus stop, wearing uniforms, and all the other signs of the time and... it just breaks my heart. Sure, I know some kids love it. I also know it's a necessary rite we all must endure. And, hey, I'm not even an advocate for home schooling... But let's face it, school for kids is not all that different from adults stuck in a nine-to-five. Well, maybe a little... there is the idea of learning, developing as social creatures, crushes, and all that... But it's also a place where so much innocence is destroyed. That's what saddens me. Again, I know it's necessary, and not everyone feels the same, but my heart is pretty tender right now thinking about all this. Kids need our help. Dammit! Let me say that again!!! Kids need all the help they can get! So lets us adults quit being assholes for a minute, okay?!? Be kind to kids. (sorry for the rant at the end... Not really)

5. A QUOTE

"To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. The people they're too exhausted to be any longer. The people they don't recognize inside themselves anymore. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out; to become speedily found when they are lost. But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way." - Heidi Priebe, from her book This Is Me Letting You Go (ht to James Clear)

 

Well, alrighty then... Enough with all that. There actually are lots of good things about school, sports, game-playing, and life in general... I bet you know someone who could use a reminder today about the good they bring to the world. ...Go!!!