Monday, August 24, 2015

The Last Inning Whether I'm Ready or Not.....

Eventually the time comes when you have to call the last strike in the last inning to end the game.  In other words, the time comes for your son's baseball journey to end.  Often times, the decision is a difficult one for your son and quite possibly for you as a parent.  

That's where I am.  Tyler decided not to play baseball at La Roche College anymore.  As hard as this is on me, I can't imagine what he went through to make that decision.  

Like any good parent, I will be supportive but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't miss the sound of a well thrown pitch hitting the catcher's mitt, the thrill of seeing him strike out a batter, the opportunity to express my discontent with the umpire's ruling.  And what a waste of talent it is that I no longer get to bust out my well-honed infield dirt removal skills.  




Little did I know when I took this picture that it would be his last pitch.......






.....that this would be the last time he walked off the field as a player....







So, I'm sure there is life after being a baseball mom.  I'm certain I can take up a hobby such as yodeling or soap carving but the truth is that I love baseball and I loved watching my son play more than anything in this world. But for now, I'll just pack up my gear, wipe my tears and thank God for giving Tyler the talent to play as long as he did.  





Thank you, Tyler! It's been one helluva ride!  I love you and couldn't be more proud of you than I am right now!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Back to Reality....and Re-Training My Bladder

To most of you today is simply August 19th.  To me it is the last day of summer vacation....the last day for long naps during the day....for not knowing or caring what day it is.....for being lazy....for no makeup...for peeing whenever I needed to....

As I sit here and watch Cali and Wrigley play, I realize that I've wasted an entire summer doing nothing!  

I didn't go to the beach
     I didn't work on my tan
          I didn't lose the Freshman 15 that I gained while Tyler was a Freshman
               I didn't go to the mall 
                    I often didn't know what day it was
                         I didn't get monthly pedicures
                              I didn't go out to dinner
                                   I didn't hang out at my mom's pool
                                        I didn't buy any new clothes or shoes!

Now summer is over.  So much for doing great things this summer! So now I'm kinda kicking myself for wasting so much time.  What did I do ALL summer? 

Let's see....well, I vacuumed A LOT.  Between Wrigley and Cali and burgundy carpet, it was hard to keep up.

I took an online grad class  
     I watched 99% of the Pirate games on TV
          I took a lot of pictures of Tyler playing baseball
               I ventured out to take some pictures in Pittsburgh and McConnell's Mill
                    I spent time with some of my favorite little humans
                         I went to a few Pirate games
                               I watched Tyler play baseball....
                                                    .....quite possibly for the last time  

I did a lot of self-reflecting about my life and my attitude
     I worked on being a more positive person
           I spent time thinking about what I need to do to be a stronger person
                      ..... mentally and emotionally
                 I spent time with Tyler
                      I reflected on what I need to do to be a better mom to a young adult child
                            I practiced being a better mom to a young adult child

I sat back and watched my son make adult decisions without interfering
     I bit my lip when I didn't agree with a couple of his decisions
          I cried alone in the bathroom over the pain my son is feeling in his heart 
               I cried alone over the pain my son is feeling over baseball....
                                        ..on that same day I also contemplated causing 
                                                 ....bodily harm to the person causing his pain

So tomorrow I'll go to school without an amazing tan, without a great vacation story to tell, and wearing my old shoes.  However, I will be more positive person, a stronger person mentally and emotionally, and I will know what day of the week  it is!
               
   
                     

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Class120....The Perfect App for Prying Parents

You read that right.....an App for prying parents.  Class120  alerts parents when their college student does not attend class.  This is real life, people!

My first thought when I saw this was, 'Thank God this stuff didn't exist when I went to college' and my second thought was, 'Oh wait, I wonder if Tyler skips classes...' 

Hmmmm.....

http://www.exit-31.com/wp-content/
uploads/2015/03/class120-video1.jpg

The App is installed on the college student's phone and the student enters his/her class schedule information. If the student doesn't show up at the location where the class is being held, a near-real-time message is sent to the parent.  The message would be something like,  "Hi Kim B., Class120 was unable to detect Tyler B. at the following class today: Biology101." Another feature is that school administrators can also be notified.



Okay, I get that the single best thing to improve students' success in college is to go to class, but isn't this a responsibility that should have been developed earlier in the student's life?  I mean, when it's bitter cold and snowing and your child has an 8 AM class on a morning after he  has been up all night drinkin....errr....studying, do you think when he turns that alarm off and snuggles back under his blanket that he is thinking of that App?

I'd like nothing more than to know where my kid is while he is at La Roche.  Losing that control when he went to college was difficult.  So if an App can be developed to tell me when he doesn't attend class, maybe the following can be developed as well: 

1.  Study130....This will tell me if my son has studied sufficiently for all his classes.  

2.  CleanRoom140....This App will tell me how clean his room is, including the bathroom and whether or not his bed is made and his dirty clothes are off the floor.  

3.  CafFood150....This will let me know if he is making healthy choices in the caf.  It would work well with WorkOut160 which lets me know if he got all his required (and maybe even extra) workouts in. 

4.  Guests170....Who is visiting his room? Who is staying a little too long?  Who stayed all night? Was it a female (Gasp!!)?

5.  WeekendWarrior180.....On the weekends my son doesn't want to come home, I will know why.  I will also know where and with who.....and if alcohol was consumed (Gasp!!).

And lastly, my favorite, TuckMeIn190......This will notify me when my son is tucked safely into his bed each night.  

I know of very few who struggled more than me when I sent Tyler off to college last year. But going off to college is a rite of passage, enabling him to become an adult while in the still-moderately-sheltered domain of a campus.   So I guess I will rely on the old-fashion way of finding out if he attended class---I'll ask him.  

I'm not giving up hope on the TuckMeIn190 just yet......