It's been two plus years and it is far beyond time that I've finally accepted my plight: I am a track mom. I won't bore anyone with the laborious details of how this came about. Actually, yes, I will hence the reason for this blog. I need a place to vent, to share and chronicle my mom journeys. I've had many of the people in my face book network encourage me to blog since they've enjoyed my status tales of parenting my children. So here we are.
Two years ago, my daughter, Jasmine was in sixth grade at Robinswood Middle School. Up until that point, I was content to allow her to be a normal kid. By normal, you know what I mean.....the usual .......playing video games, going to school and worrying about nothing other than academics. But with an eye towards the future, I realized it was time to begin to find an extracurricular activity which suited her. I ran track years ago and realized Jasmine had a similar athletic build and body type so I asked her to bring home the application from the middle school track team.
And that's where I ran into trouble. I waited. And waited. Three weeks later, Jasmine gleefully informed me that we missed the deadline. If you are reading this and sensing that she was less than enthusiastic about the idea of running track don't fret because you are absolutely right. She sabotaged the idea on purpose or at least so she thought. Dear Hubby was not to be outdone and he promptly located the contact information for the local AAU club and off we went to their Monday practice as fast as our family mini-van could get us there.
On day one, the Head Coach took one look at her build and saw what I saw (yes, that was my affirmation that I was right) and asked us if she could run. Of course, I didn't know the answer to the question, so I responded with, "I don't know, that's why I brought her to you. I figured if she can't run, then you can see what else you can do with her."
He smiled. And then laughed. Actually he bellowed. I kid you not. Bowls of laughter exploded from his six foot five frame. Then he called over the Assistant Coach and turned to us and asked us when could he have her.
And that's how it began for Jasmine. And for RJ. And for Jordan. And for me. It is not the end of the story by a long shot as you will see many, many entries later.
However, I will be honest here and admit that I was open to the idea of Jasmine running track but Dear Hubby decided that all of the the kids were going to participate. I struggled with this notion. You see, the clouds parted before me at that very moment and a voice came out of the clouds and declared, "thou shalt burn in a track inferno and thou shalt never sit down ever again!" I likened it to serious reality check.
Once we left the track that day, I had one of those a wifely discussions with my husband about what we were getting ourselves into. I'm a logical thinker so I felt that I needed to lay all of the facts out on the table for Dear Hubby. Someone needed to point out to him that this decision meant that (WE thereby ME) would need to practically dedicate the rest our lives to track and field until death do us part. I ran down the laundry list of the sacrifice this would entail and the impact it would have on our quality family time, on our jobs (how else did we plan to handle getting kids to track meets out of state with one semi-working automobile) and most importantly how were we to manage the bling? Track is expensive. Track is expensive. Track is expensive. I'll say it one more time. Track is expensive. We started track in April of 2008. By August, we had spent well over $1500.
Of course Dear Hubby wasn't willing to admit that his brilliant decision carried a hefty price tag so he smugly pointed out that he ran track in high school (you know every footballer was a track scholar right?) and that he was fully aware of what we were getting in to. As a former high school athlete, I did the best I could to convey the realities to him but once Dear Hubby has an idea in his head he was not going to be moved.
His reality check came three months later when I tallied the receipts to show him how much our track investment was really costing us. And then the light bulb went off and he finally acknowledged what I had told him before. Track is expensive. Life as a track parent is expensive and invasive.
Throughout the course of this journey we've laughed, cried, rejoiced, complained and experienced a gamut of emotions that for the sake of time, I will have to share in later entries. I But we're still here believing in our children and supporting them every step of the way and we're open to where this will take us and our kids without knowing for sure that the destination is the one we have in our heads.
And at the end of the day, I've come to realize that I am a track mom which is not the same thing as I am a track athlete. As a former track athlete, I thought that the physical and emotional turmoil that I experienced was the ultimate experience to be had in the sport of track and field.
But there is another level out there. This is the level when you have the knowledge to understand what the ramifications of the mistakes are and the knowledge, desire and if all else fails some contacts that you can engage to help you make corrections.
Nothing can compare to being the mother in the stand who cringes when an extra step (stutter step) is taken to H3 (the third hurdle) in the thick of a competitive 200 meter hurdle race at the Bay Area Track and Field meet. Nothing can compare to being the mother in the stand who watches when you realize that the child out in front placing second in the 1500 meter dash defying the physical stereotypes of the distance race is your kid. It is at that moment when you realize you are wearing not only the hat of a mother but also as the hat of a confidant, coach, counselor and former athlete.
My coworkers often tease me when they see me after they've perused my weekend face book status updates. "Hello, track mom," they say and initially, I wasn't so sure that I wanted that label but now whenever they say it, I smile and reply with, "yeah, I am definitely a track mom."
