Enjoy a “Cool” Sports Weekend with Your Kids
By Chris Chance
With the fall season here, I get excited about sports all over again. My thoughts quickly turn to football weekends.
The Chance family spends as many weekends as possible tailgating at Mississippi State football games. It’s a wonderful family time for us, because we take the motor home and go to
Starkville for the weekend.
Angie, Brooks, Bryce and I spend our time with Angie’s parents, my parents, and other friends and family. We eat (a lot), watch football, and play games with the children all weekend. For a little while, all the cares seem to go away.
I love having my two sons with me at the ballgames, especially now that they are old enough to watch and enjoy them with me. I hope that will always be something we do together, just like my father and I do to this day.
Even during the time in my life when I lost my mind and thought I knew more than he did (from about age 13 through college), we always had sports in common. It’s wonderful to still be able to share that bond, and to pass it along to my children.
I think that it’s not much different for many dads with their sons or daughters. Sports are a way for us to connect.
For Brooks and me, it’s golf; and now he’s interested in starting to jog with me.
For Bryce, it’s about football, basketball, baseball and soccer. When we’re not playing together, we can share by watching ballgames or racing together, agreeing on favorite teams, players or drivers, and playfully disagreeing on some (Bryce likes whoever is winning.)
Whether we are playing or watching, I have to remind myself that the time together is the important thing. My wife is quick to point out that my mood is too often based on how Mississippi State performs.
I have to remember that my boys are watching me. They learn more from watching me than they do from what I tell them, so I have to remember to practice what I preach.
As the weather cools down, enjoy some recreation with your family. Play, practice, picnic, exercise or tailgate at a football game (even if it’s one of those other schools), and just spend some time together.
And for you teenage boys out there, when you and your dad disagree, just assume you’re wrong and he’s right.