It takes a village

While my husband and I definitely feel we have a lot to offer our kids, we have joked with our very athletic neighbours that if they will teach sports to our little ones, then we will have their kids over to paint and draw.

Joking aside, we have no problem taking our kids to the park to kick a ball around or do some batting practice. We’re just not all that confident that we can teach them any proper skills. More likely they’d have to undo all the stuff they learned from us.

Come to think of it, asking family and friends to pass along their passions and talents is actually a pretty great idea. As cliché as the phrase may sound, in many ways I really believe that “it takes a village”.

Looking around, I see some amazing people in our lives that are willing to step in and fill in the gaps in our sport knowledge.

There’s our sporty neighbour who includes my son when he plays hockey with his own little guy. There’s my Dad who is planning to take the kids to the baseball diamond come springtime. And of course, there are the awesome coaches that volunteer in the affordable leagues in our community.

A look within makes me realize that although there are a lot of things I’m not comfortable with – such as math, home repairs, driving – these things don’t have to define me or my children. There are people and resources available to help us overcome these shortcomings, real or imagined.

I know that none of this lets my husband and me off the hook. It’s still up to us to model the behaviour we want to see in our children.

And that’s okay because, surprisingly, our son’s excitement about the approaching baseball season is rubbing off on us. We’re actually looking forward to going to the park and playing all together as a family.

I’m noticing not only a shift in our kids’ attitudes towards sports, but in our own as well.

With a little help from our “village” there’s no limit to what our kids will learn and be exposed to. They might even become mathematicians who run marathons and do their own home renos! And you never know, my husband and I might pick up a little something along the way.