Momma Coach
“If I want to coach kids who show up to practice with hands and hearts that look to help - then I have to show up to practice the same way.”
Turns out I'm a coach. I've never been one before. Not paid, anyway. But it's time we embrace the reality that a good parent is actually a good coach. Maybe you're thinking: Duh. Well let the rest of us catch up with you then - because it's a little revelation I've got going on my heart over here.
Good coaches shaped us and cheered us on and breathed bravery into our young hearts. They believed in us and told us we could finish or we could win or we could just be out there. They take young potential, look them in the face and say Yep, I can work with that.
Try seeing yourself as a coach to your kids tomorrow morning before you get out of bed. The kind of coach that smiles at your child, looks deep inside and sees all the ways they can contribute to the team. It's WAY more fun than seeing myself as a mom who is tired, frustrated and annoyed at saying the same things. Over and over and over. With hidden eye-rolls in my head.
Good coaches aren't annoyed at doing the same drills over and over. It's what good coaches plan on doing. It's the fundamentals that they need, every day, that make the player confident, better, and full of pride in a job well done.
Children need good coaching about the same things, multiple times a day, until they grasp it and learn. Then it's on to new skill sets. Be it with the Littles with Sharing or No-touching, to the Middles with putting the wet towel back on the towel bar instead of the floor or to the Bigs with Pre-Calculus and dating and who knows what else - God save us all.
Practice is every morning under your roof. Practice is at each meal. Practice is as you go about your own little life. It's each hygiene moment (WHY am I still telling my 9 year old to brush his teeth?! Guess he still needs the fluoride fundamentals) each morning. Each afternoon. Each evening. Practice makes perfect....
But let's be real - not perfect. Let's say practice makes progress and practice makes life work better and practice is really discipline. And discipline and self control are great assets. Great fruit of a tree that is firmly planted in good soil by living streams of water. No one wants to employ an adult who thinks it's everyone else's job or fault. Responsibility and kindness and love and hands and hearts that look to help are the kind of humans our world needs.
And if I want to coach kids who show up to practice with hands and hearts that look to help - then I have to show up to practice the same way. I have to model the character I am coaching in my children. That quite possibly could be the hardest part of being a Momma Coach.
And then when I see even a glimpse of that heart and spirit - I'll cheer on my little team! Good job! That's the spirit! Great choice! I saw how you did that - that's a win! I'll take that small, small potential and work with it. I can work with that tantrum-ing 2 year old, I'll tell myself, when I forget. When I want to throw the train at him back, instead of breathing and distracting and singing a new song. I can work with you, little mad one.
A small amount of good Momma Coaching goes a long, long way. You got this, Momma Coach.