Don't Be a Dance Mom!

I will never understand parents who try to live out their dreams through their children. I get it; you want your kids to have a better life than you did. You want them to succeed. You want them to go far!

At some point though, let it go. Your dreams might not be their dreams. They might want to be a fire fighter or a chef instead of a professional soccer player. SHOCKER, RIGHT?!

I see this a lot in one particular area of physical activity – dance.

I will admit, my intake of the television show Dance Moms is a little unhealthy. By “a little” I mean a lot. I watch it every week. What draws me in is the drama amongst the moms. The sad part? It isn’t all fake! I saw it in the moms when I was playing soccer in the standard McLean Youth League. Nothing fancy. Not even All-Stars. Moms/parents were crazy!

When I was in New Orleans this past fall, the hotel I was staying at was catering to a dance competition. Hundreds upon hundreds of dancers and their parents swarmed the ballrooms and the lobbies with their really high ponytails and their team jackets. For the most part, the kids were there to have fun. There was a competition going on but they were with their friends in a new place! It was an exciting experience! The parents on the other hand, not so much joy. I saw moms yelling at their children because they forgot part of their dance or the kid’s leg was not straight enough. I saw moms rolling their eyes at other moms letting their kid get a tall skinny frap from Starbucks WITH whipped cream. That one makes me laugh – OH THE HORROR OF WHIPPED CREAM!

It really is interesting the way parents do that type of thing to their children over a sport. If the kid is taking it as seriously, fine. Sometimes it is the kid’s dream and the adult is just trying to help them succeed. I have friends who are like that with their parents. It just happens and their relationship is perfectly healthy. I see it as a problem when the kids want to succeed but their life is not totally absorbed by it. For example, yes I want to dance on Broadway but I also want to be a great baker! Parent won’t let the kid bake brownies. Basically, the kid is not allowed to have any life outside of dance.

The focus is intimidating and the child isn’t happy. There was a time when I was younger that I wanted to play professional soccer. I took it seriously but I always knew that soccer was great no matter how far I got in it. I loved the sport. I loved my team. It made my life whenever my older sister would come play soccer with me in the front yard where we used space between shrubs as goals. Soccer shaped who I am. I played for 13 years and it was not to try to be successful. I played because I loved the game, I loved the people, and I had parental support.

I did not have parents forcing their dreams down my throat. I think it’s because the dreams my parents had for me include me being successful and happy in whichever path I choose to take. Following in their footsteps has always been an option but never the main course of action.

Parents, calm down. Your children want to have fun and have you support them. They do not need all the weight of the future on their shoulders at age 6.

Orioles Spring Training – Pitching Cohesiveness

The Baltimore Orioles are in sunny Sarasota, Florida at Ed Smith Stadium for the start of spring training. As they are probably relaxing by the pool and enjoying the warm, I am celebrating the start having to dig out my car from the snow and doing laundry. Where would you rather be? Warmth or chores? Trust me, I don’t take it personally.

I know that living in the NoVA area puts me within Nationals boundaries, but I couldn’t just drop my team the second a new one came in. So to me, Orioles are #1 and the Nationals are Top 5. Top 5 fluctuates so sometimes they’ll be #2 and other times they’re teetering between five and six.

The Orioles have definitely become a force to be reckoned with in the American League and all across Major League Baseball. I think part of what is bringing on the change is the cohesiveness of the players. They’ve been a lot like the Redskins in the past; great players but the team has not been a unit. Now they are really working together in all aspects of the team. This has been demonstrated in training camp already. New pitchers came in to be evaluated and trained. Even the ones in the last group had an audience. Veteran pitchers including Tommy Hunter and Darren O’Day took part in rookie groups and stayed behind to watch & show support for the new guys. 

When I started playing soccer as a little kid one of the first things I was taught was that we have to learn how to play as a team if we want to grow as a team and if we wanted to win. It was not about the one kid who could always score a goal whenever on the field. It was just as much about the kid who sat down by the sidelines picking at the grass. We had to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses as well as learn how to work with them all. We had to learn about each other in ways more than just involved soccer. It paid off!

As simple as it may be, professional teams don’t seem to always understand that. The focus is on the big names and the people that are always making ESPN’s highlight reel. They can’t be the big names without everyone else that goes out on the field. The Orioles have embraced the lesson and it worked out last season. Hopefully they only get better. Seeing the couple days that spring training has been going on has given me a lot of hope for this coming season.

Let’s go O’s!!!

Snow... This Means War!

Happy Friday!!!

This has been quite the week. I wish I could say that in a good way. I just got permission to return to my apartment on Wednesday after a hellish ordeal with my complex. On top of that, I’ve been sick for the past week. Started out as one thing and as I type this it has transformed into something totally different. Let me just say that there is not enough tea in the world to make my throat feel better. Also, it snowed. Normally I do not have a problem with snow. But it snowed a lot and it is cold so that means everything is turning into ice. I don’t know how many times I have checked gravity but I have to say it’s working very well.

The combination of my bad luck for the week has amounted to a rather large bummer – I can’t go play in the snow. Snowball fights and sledding are two of my favorite winter things! Well, outdoor winter things. Nothing can top hot chocolate with Netflix or grilled cheese and tomato soup.  There is something magical about a snowball fight with the kids on the cul-de-sac followed by sledding at Wolf Trap. It’s tradition. And when it comes to the snowball fight, competition gets fierce.

Considering how intense my neighbors took snowball fights as I was growing up it baffles me that it has not made it into the Olympics. It takes skill, stamina, and a healthy (depending on the human, not so healthy) dose of competition. There is a winning team and a losing team. Also, the strategy gets very detailed.

Looking back, I guess the appropriate term would be a snowball war. Everyone can partake in a snowball fight but not war is not for everyone. There are battles that last days. Locations move based on relocation of forts. There are allies and there are most definitely spies. Being part of it is an adrenaline rush like nothing felt before. Watching it draws you in.

Really, I don’t know how the Winter Olympics hasn’t jumped on this yet.

Breakfast with Dad - Week 3

#1 – I GOT A CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY POP TART!!!!! It was delicious. Chocolate pop tart with strawberry filling and topped with some white and red icing & sprinkles. I was going to take a picture of it but I got too excited. I was powerless to the pastry. It was gone really fast. Ted's should really consider making it part of the menu all the time. wink wink nudge nudge...

#2 – It’s cold. As I type this, my phone says it is 7 degrees outside. Not good. Not having it. Not a fan.

Seems random but they both tie in together because this is another installment of Breakfast with Dad!!!! Yay! It’s going to be a short one today but it will be filled with goodies nonetheless.

Yesterday my dad and I planned to meet at 7:30 AM. Due to the lovely snow, freezing temperatures, and strong winds we weren’t there until closer to 8:00. 30 minutes less than normal but that weather was not messing around. It really drove the conversation. My question to him – How do people in Green Bay (and places like it) put up with this for weeks on end?! I am going crazy with just a couple days of it and I’m only going to and from my car. These people are out for hours watching a football game!

I’ve said it before, I love my football; but a girl can only stand so much cold before she just wants to set something on fire. My dad is the same. He does not deal with the cold weather. He doesn’t even have some highly thought out reason for the Green Bay fans being out there. He says, “They’re just used to it.” Apparently if you choose to live in a place where a sneeze will freeze before it lands, you grow accustomed to it. You have the proper clothes and you know what it takes to keep warm.

But what about the players?! Because when they’re on the field, they do not get to be in sweatpants and huge jackets. They’re in long sleeved shirts. That’s pretty much the extent of it! It baffles me because then you see them on the sidelines huddling under giant puffy jackets shaking. Sweat and the cold do not mix well at all. I would be sick all the time. Places like these should pay more considering the conditions the players are expected to deal with.

My dad did not have a good answer for the players except that they have to love what they do to do it there. Maybe some of them even like the cold. Who knows?! I couldn’t do it. I know that about myself. I’m a wuss.

But that’s okay! I’ll embrace it! I’ll just sit right here and wait on summer. Also, once summer starts again we only have about 2 months before football season starts again. The warm weather brings so many perks!  

Breakfast with Dad - Week 2

            Waking up at 6:45 am on a Sunday is hard. When you throw in an omelet and a homemade pop tart, things get a lot easier. Food is always fantastic motivation.  Also, before I get into the sports side of breakfast, I need to put this out there. I went out to breakfast on Sunday February 8^th. They were advertising chocolate covered strawberry homemade pop tarts. Fun fact, chocolate covered strawberries are addicting and delicious. Guess when they start serving them? Monday February 9^th. I WAS 1 DAY EARLY. Kind of heartbreaking. Mission for next week? Yes.

            Moving on, it was not a big week for sports during breakfast. It was a lot off filling out paperwork and getting ready for my younger sister’s 21^st birthday. We did have an interesting talk about the Washington Wizards.

            Neither of us are huge basketball fans. It has never been a huge part of our lives, we watch when we watch, but we could not tell you anything big about the team. My dad chuckled to himself and said, “That has not always been the case. Man, you should have been around when they were the Bullets. Those were some good seasons.” It took me by surprise! My dad follows football and baseball. He dabbles in hockey. I have never heard of him ever following basketball. A recurring thing for this particular blog post series will be memories. I can feel that already.

            Father Dearest took a sip of his coffee and proceeded to tell me about (a much less exciting) Life before Lauren. Apparently from the 1970s through 1980s the Washington Bullets were a force to be reckoned with. They won at least 35 games 22 seasons in a row! It is amazing! The entire Washington DC area was behind them. There was a connecting spirit running throughout the people here. My dad was smiling throughout all of this. He said they went through down period in the 1990s but the last season they were the Bullets they went to the playoffs. “The feeling was not the same in the ‘90s but during the ‘70s and ‘80s… Man…. That was a wonderful time for DC sports.”

            Even though the Wizards are doing pretty well now, it was not that long ago when you could go to a game for basically $2. DC sports in general have a reputation of being disappointing. I want to be part of an area that rallies behind its teams. People in this area can be some of the most loyal fans (i.e. Redskins fans) or they can drop ‘em like a hot bowl out of the microwave. I went to New Orleans over Halloween last year and you could feel the unity throughout. New Orleans Saints stuff everywhere, bars full during the game, and the team isn’t even at the top of its game. I loved that. I want to be part of that. Listening to my dad talk about how the area was with the Bullets, I want that vibe back in the area. Whether its for the Wizards, Nationals, Capitals, or Redskins. 

I want the strong DC support. I want memories like my dad has.

And I want homemade chocolate covered strawberry flavored pop tarts… Just sayin’.

Fighting in Hockey

Let me start this off by saying that I love hockey. I’m a Washington Capitals fan and dang proud of it. Then again, it’s really easy to embrace a team that doesn’t seem to perform in a less than stellar manner.

On Tuesday the Caps played the Los Angeles Kings at the Verizon Center. This has not been a winning combination for the Capitals in recent years but as any DC area sports fan, I had to remain optimistic. Chicken was made for dinner, I took a seat on my beanbag chair (I kid you not, I have a beanbag chair), and let the game begin.

Like any hockey game, it starts off pretty fast. There’s a lot of back and forth. My attention is being held. There are a lot of back and forth calls. The best thing about it? Six minutes in, NO PENALTIES. WHAT?! That is almost unheard of. IT was great and it definitely helped the game go by faster. Of course, to make it even better, it was Troy Brower’s 500^th game and he scored twice. To top it all off, Holtby the goalie (teehee) had 27 saves. It was a pretty classic game.

Even with all the positives, the key part of hockey that almost defines it as more than ice-skating with sticks (don’t hate for the comparison, but I need some entertainment) is the fighting. I absolutely love the fighting. I can’t get enough of it. It isn’t as good nowadays as it used to be but every now and then, the boys fight. And yeah, they fought. There was one where a Caps player was pushed down in front of the Kings’ net because they thought he hit the goalie. I didn’t see it in the replay but they claim it happened. Anyway, I got into it. Yelling at the TV was definitely a huge part of it.

Why is it that I am so fascinated by the fighting? Don’t get me wrong, I love hockey. I love the game. But it is easier for me to fall asleep during almost any other sporting event on TV. Key phrase, on TV. I can take really great naps during a hockey game. But when the fighting happens?! I AM AWAKE! I AM INTO IT! I AM EXCITED JUST TYPING ABOUT IT! I think I just love the fact that grown adult males are going to get in a fight because one tripped the other. It’s funny to think about because in my mind I just picture the 5 year-old boys in my neighborhood doing that to each other. It’s also fascinating because just like the 5 year-old boys in my neighborhood, the hockey players get a time out! I just imagine the officials taking them to the box going, “Yes I know he hit you too but you started it…. I don’t care… I don’t care you should have finished it… Two minute time out…” It puts a genuine smile on my face whenever I think about it.

I love the fights. I do. I embrace them. It’s always a huge bummer when the officials break it up. I think everyone loves the fighting though. It lets out aggression and it really brings the fans into the game to back the team up no matter what the score is. Yes, no matter the score. Your team could be down 7-0 and you will still get up and yell if a fight starts out.

Gotta love hockey!

Breakfast With Dad - Week 1

            Every Sunday I go to breakfast with my dad. I don’t live in the house anymore but I am still one of his little girls (his favorite, might I add) so this is a way we keep connected. I usually see my mom at some point during the week anyway so this ends up being Father-Daughter time. We have yet to get my other sisters to come along but that’s just fine with me. I love listening to my dad. I could sit and talk with him for hours. Usually that’s what we do! Meeting time is 7:30 AM because he goes to church and I have to work on Sundays. He always orders the same thing: two eggs scrambled with cheese, bacon (every now and then he mixes it up with sausage), hash browns, and two pieces of white toast. Oh, and I can’t forget the coffee (black) and a strawberry pop tart. He is a pretty good example of a creature of habit. But what comes out of his mouth, especially when he gets to talkin’ about sports, that can go in so many different directions.

Strawberry Pop Tart from Ted's Bulletin. TRY IT!

            As previously stated, I work on Sundays. That kills my soul a little bit because this was the first football season that it was true. I couldn’t watch any games! I worked from 12:00 Noon through 8:30 PM. I work (in two weeks that will be past tense) at a hair salon that is open unusual hours on Sundays. I miss everything so these breakfasts were a time when I would catch up on the previous week, what all was in the news, and look ahead to that week’s game. This Sunday was February 1^st. Super Bowl Sunday. We had plenty to talk about.

            I am a born and raised Redskins fan. My daddy raised me to love my hometown team. Through it’s ups and downs we have been loyal. Needless to say we were not in the game and neither was our division. We didn’t have too many ties to the teams playing. I asked who he wanted to win and he gave his age old answer, “I just want to see a good game.” Unless the Redskins, Cowboys, or Eagles are playing, he tends to just want to see the teams play well.  I’m never like that. I wish I could be, but I always want one of the teams to win. I only have one game in my ENTIRE LIFE (or as much of it as I can remember) where the team I wanted did not win- Broncos last year. It broke my heart for two reasons. #1 it destroyed my winning streak. #2 IT WAS TO THE SEAHAWKS. Payton Manning owes me free Papa Johns and that’s just a start to make up for it… Just saying.

            Anyway, I got to thinking about the moral and ethical side of sports fans. This Super Bowl provided huge moral dilemmas for fans like my father and me who do not have ties to the teams playing. The Patriots have been accused (and found guilty of) cheating many times over the past 10 years. The most recent controversy, “Deflategate.” The Seahawks have a couple less than savory individuals on their team that no one seems to like. I’m not going to name names but Skittles, anyone? That problem was one that many people watching the game faced. It wasn’t a question of who we wanted to win but rather who we wanted to lose more. Sports fans are not known to be soft but we have moral compasses and they were really messed with during this game!  WHICH WAY IS NORTH?! WHO DO WE GO WITH?!

            My dad had an interesting insight into this. When it comes to the Super Bowl, it is a tradition. It is an American tradition. It is a huge event and we want the best of the best athletes participating in it. We want these athletes to be amazing. The purity of the sport is want is important. We don’t want people participating who will taint that purity. With that being said, no wonder we had issues picking which team we wanted to win! Geez, you had perceived cheaters on one side and people who were kind of jerks on the other. None of them deserve it! We do crappy stuff in our own lives. We lie, cheat, and steal to different levels. The difference? We’re just normal people! We are not athletes! We are not playing in a game that unites a country! Who are we as a country if we support these people?!

            That is basically my dad’s argument but I added some drama for effect. What can I say- I’m female. It makes sense though. We want the athletes competing to represent the best of the best in the country. Did this Super Bowl do that? Did it take the best of the best or is it just a league where they are the best of the worst? I’m going to try being an optimist today and say that we could do better. The players in the NFL need to realize that they not only represent a team, they represent the fans of the teams and even the nation. They could be the first exposure someone has to the sport. If that’s the case, I am hoping people don’t hate us now.