By Josh:
When my daughter was born she was destined to play softball. I know that there is the reality that she may not like softball. I understand that and I am okay with that.
Okay let’s be honest I’ve already given her some nicknames for softball. Ripper (her initials are RPR) and RaeGun (her first name is Raelynn). She just turned 3 and already she has attended around 150 baseball games and a few dozen softball games. She enjoys going to games with me so I think the chances she will play are pretty good.
So for her birthday I asked my parents to get her a tee so she can hit balls at times. I wasn’t sure how she would react when I put it together. She loved it and even when I told her to go inside she refused and kept hitting balls off the tee.
It made me proud.
However, it did raise the question in my mind am I already pushing her too early to play softball.
I’ve thought about it for a while now. How much do I work with her to develop her skills? Do I only go do stuff with her when she asks? What if she never asks?
I have no desire to push my daughter to play something so that I can be happy, but I also know how much fun being a part of a team can be.
So here is what I think. I am going to work with her and teach her but I am going to make sure that any time she tells me she is tired of playing or doesn’t want to anymore that day I will stop. I want to develop her skills but I want it to be fun. I want her to understand why I love baseball and softball so much and see if she develops that same love.
I hope my approach is the right one. Only time will tell, but looking at her swing already at age 3 she is going to be just fine in the game of softball.