Parenting and Baseball
“Being a parent is like being a catcher. You gotta handle whatever is thrown your way.”
-Tom Sawyer
I never was very good at catching. I guess that must be why I had my “witch on a broomstick” phase. I had never learned how to catch whatever was thrown my way.
As a parent, there are a myriad of things thrown our way every day. The defining factor of being a parent is how you “catch” them. For a long time I dropped a lot of balls. It was only after learning the right tools that I really understood what being a “catcher” meant and learned how to catch all of the balls coming my way.
Think about it. The catcher in a baseball game rarely gets upset, even when wild pitches are being thrown. The catcher scrambles to get every ball, sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails, but rarely loses his/ her cool. When things are not going well the catcher calmly walks up to the plate and talks to the pitcher. I am not sure what they say but there is no yelling, no body language that tells us that they are upset, only two people having a calm discussion. Then the catcher walks back to the plate and the game resumes.
It is a great analogy for being a parent. Being willing to try and catch anything that is thrown at us, sometimes actually catching it and sometimes not, but always staying calm and always willing to get back into the game.
So...when life keeps throwing those wild pitches at you, try not to get upset. Catch the ones you can, forgive yourself for the ones you can’t. Stay calm and keep your head in the game – you have a lot of innings left.
- Peggy
Peggy Gomula is Seattle's Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center's Lead Parent Coach. She is currently seeing clients for parent coaching and private Calm & Connected classes. Contact us to learn more.