Having Fun, Rain or Shine!

Spring is here! Time for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, and many other youth sports. But it's rainy and cold. Do you really want to watch your child participate in sports outside in the rain and cold? Do you dread watching youth sports games when you're freezing and wet?

Use the following tips to help you and your child make the best of nasty weather conditions:

• Encourage your child to have fun in the rain and mud. Children learn from adults. If you let your child know that it's ok to have fun and get wet and dirty, he will be more comfortable and be more likely to enjoy the bad weather conditions.
• Bring a survival bag packed with warm clothes and a blanket.
• Make hot chocolate. Having hot chocolate ready on the sidelines is a little incentive for your child to enjoy the poor weather conditions. Plus, it will help to warm your child up.
• Go out and watch the game from the sidelines, not from your car. If you tell your child that it's ok to get wet and dirty, he will be more likely to believe you if he sees you getting drenched by the rain too.
• Cheer for your child's team. Rain or sun, you can still cheer for your child's team, and your child will enjoy the support.

Do you have any tips for surviving bad weather? We would love to hear from you. Please post comments and share your tips or fun stories of survival!

Sports Parenting Reminder: Cheer for ALL Team Members

Today, I was at a youth soccer game. While sitting next to a couple of enthusiastic parents, I noticed that their cheering and yelling (encouraging words) were genuine. These parents were cheering for ALL team members, not only their daughter.

So many sports parents yell AT their child and forget about the actual support all children need. Isn't it our job to support and encourage our children? Don't we all want to help our children as much as possible? Isn't it best to support all children on a team?

Kids love to hear the following phrases:

• Great pass!
• Nice stop!
• Good team work!
• Way to work hard!
• You can do it!
• Awesome move!

The next time your child or another child on the team is having a bad day during a game, try yelling or cheering some words of encouragement. You might be surprised by the results!

I was thrilled to hear this type of encouragement from parents. Sometimes we can all use a reminder.

Kim

The Positive Coaching Alliance

The Positive Coaching Alliance (www.positivecoach.org) is a nonprofit organization based at the Stanford University Athletic Department. This national organization focuses on creating "a movement to transform the culture of youth sports so that all youth athletes have a positive, character-building experience."

PCA Trainers conduct workshops for youth sports coaches, parents, organizational leaders and athletes. PCA Champions are volunteers who are advocates for creating a positive youth culture in sports.

In addition to support from elite coaches and athletes from professional and olympic sports, PCA has partners, trainers, workshop attendees, National Advisory Board members and thousands of individuals, foundations and corporations leading their movement.

We are thrilled to be PCA Champions and encourage you to make positive choices when guiding your children in youth sports.

Kim & Ed

Please Buy: THE LIAR'S DIARY

Today, over 300 bloggers, including bestsellers, Emmy winners, movie makers, and publishing houses have come together to talk about THE LIAR'S DIARY by Patry Francis.

In support of Author Patry Francis, recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and unable to promote her book, we are urging you to purchase her newly released book THE LIAR'S DIARY in paperback.

Please feel free to read Patry's blog and her blog post about her cancer.

Here are the publisher's words:

Answering the question of what is more powerful—family or friendship? this debut novel unforgettably shows how far one woman would go to protect either.

They couldn’t be more different, but they form a friendship that will alter both their fates. When Ali Mather blows into town, breaking all the rules and breaking hearts (despite the fact that she is pushing forty), she also makes a mark on an unlikely family. Almost against her will, Jeanne Cross feels drawn to this strangely vibrant woman, a fascination that begins to infect Jeanne’s “perfect” husband as well as their teenaged son.

At the heart of the friendship between Ali and Jeanne are deep-seated emotional needs, vulnerabilities they have each been recording in their diaries. Ali also senses another kind of vulnerability; she believes someone has been entering her house when she is not at home—and not with the usual intentions. What this burglar wants is nothing less than a piece of Ali’s soul.
When a murderer strikes and Jeanne’s son is arrested, we learn that the key to the crime lies in the diaries of two very different women . . . but only one of them is telling the truth. A chilling tour of troubled minds, The Liar’s Diary signals the launch of an immensely talented new novelist who knows just how to keep her readers guessing.

Click on any of the following links to purchase THE LIAR'S DIARY:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Powell's
• Penguin to save 15% (after you add the book to your cart, just enter the word PATRY in the coupon code field and click ‘update cart’ to activate the discount).

Thank you for your support.

Kim & Ed

Your Child's Responsibilities....

Yes, your child should have responsibilities, even as a child-athlete. How many times have you arrived at the soccer field without a soccer ball? How many times have you arrived at the football field without a water bottle? Or how many times have you arrived at the hockey rink without a single skate?

My guess is that many of us can relate in some way to the above scenarios. Whose fault is it? Yours? Your child's?

Okay, I agree with you--it's most likely the child's fault. However, I encourage you to keep in mind that, as parents, most of us are over-scheduled and constantly in a hurry. Parents tend to throw in a load of laundry, microwave a hot dog, change a dirty diaper, and/or take a last minute phone call all while getting several children out the door to several different practices. Sound familiar?

A key responsibility for your child-athlete is getting themselves and their gear ready for a practice or a game. The following tips will help you and your child to avoid or persevere through moments of blame and forgetfulness:

1. Stay calm. Becoming irate does not help an already stressful situation. Take a deep breath and try to think clearly before reacting to your child's forgetfulness.
2. Assign a specific location to keep each child's gear. A specific location for each child's gear will help you and your child with being able to locate the proper gear quickly.
3. Assign a specific area for all sports-related dirty laundry. Dirty uniforms are often discovered just before a game. Prevent this by having your child place their dirty uniform or equipment in a specified area. You're more likely to have it ready if you are actually away that it's dirty!
4. Store away all old gear. Gear that is too big, too small, or not necessary for your child's current sport should be stored away. If you keep old gear mixed with new gear, you and your child will be confused when you're in a rush to get out the door.
5. Create an equipment check list. If your child is repeatedly missing equipment when he arrives at practice, consider using a check list that is your child's responsibility before you leave the house.
6. Suffer the consequences. Age permitting, if your child repeatedly forgets equipment, consider having him sit out of a game or practice. This is hard to do, but it might be a good lesson to learn.

Once again, remember that bringing equipment is your child's responsibility. But it is your responsibility to guide and teach your child. Try out some of the above tips, and let us know how they work for you.