"He's Just A Little Boy"

Every now and then I see or hear something that stops me in my tracks. 

I'm one of those people that really pays attention to every single lyric in a song or puts myself in the shoes of the author of whatever I'm reading.

As I was playing around on Pinterest the other day, I came across this pin of a sign that a Little League team had posted to the fence of their home stadium.  It hit me so hard, thinking back when my brother played baseball and ho some of the parents of the kids on his team would get so frustrated with the way their child was playing, as if they were in the infield themselves and able to control the situation. 

Now that I'm going to be the momma in the stands in a few years, going crazy for my little sports player out on the field, this sign hits so close to home for me.

I know that given myself and Andrew as his parents, our little man is going to be into any and every kind of sport possible (while I hung up my bat after a 'my brother just knocked out my front tooth with a tball during practice' incident, I'm one heck of a cheerleader).  I'm positive that this kid is going to love going to sporting events just as much as he's going to fall in love with participating in them.  And if he's anything like his daddy, which I have no doubt that he will be, he'll be completely athletic and amaze everyone with how talented he is on whatever field or court he steps onto.

However, I hear stories and have unfortunately been in the stands when a parent has replaced the beaming proudness of their child standing on home plate with a bat in their hand or in the outfield holding a glove with rude and insensitive words slung at their children who innocently let the ball fly past their swing or above their head.  There aren't words for how moments like this break my heart.

While I have 3 months until I'm actually a parent myself, I've always said to myself "that will NEVER be me or my husband".  Our children will be praised for every single attempt they make to better themselves, whether it's on the baseball field or in class or in our back yard setting a good example for their friends. 

Strikes happen.  Missed shots happen.  Life happens. 

But one thing is for sure, while I may not have trophies lining my childhood walls, I'm one heck of a cheerleader.  And I vow to always be my child's biggest fan.  Building him up, and screaming from the stands, no matter what the score.