Being an adult is a tough thing to be at times. It’s a never ending commitment to things you never dreamed of as a child; bills, responsibilities to loved ones as well as our contemporaries can be incredibly daunting at times. Overwhelming even. When you add children to the mix it becomes even more difficult. Prior to becoming a father, i had a very specific image of what having a child would be like…and to be honest, it’s nothing like what i thought. It is far more difficult than i could have ever imagined. Getting things done the way i want them or even when i want them is close to impossible. Over the past few months or so, i’ve learned to let things go. I had to. My expectations were not realistic or fair for an incredibly curious toddler. His young developing mind was discovering a world he needed to experience…in his very own way. Once i was able to grasp that seemingly simple concept, i was able to become a better father and enjoy the simple moments in life that later become memories we never forget…
The snow we’ve had in town last night and today was one of those moments to stop and let go of being an adult…although i had to make sure my kid didn’t hurt himself :). One of my recent posts was a reflection of a fond memory as a kid, the big San Antonio snow storm. Keeping that in mind, my goal was to make this day off of work and “adulting” as much fun as i could. Not to break an arm patting myself, but i thing we got it done today and made some awesome memories!
When i started out on this post i had an idea to show a few cards from the Bowman Draft jumbo box i bought before Christmas. The theme of the first post would be about sons of former MLB players and their fathers, but i wanted to shed a little personal experience since we had so much fun. So, for those excited to see some cards that i pulled take a look below…and i promise the hits will be exhibited in the next post!
As i opened the packs, i continued to see names that i recalled from my younger days as a collector…first thought was HOLY CRAP! I’m getting old!! I remember thinking, damn i’m old when a guy i remember as a rookie retired, or made the Hall of Fame…but now these guys have raised baseball players and kept the name in the family business.
I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to be the son of a professional athlete. Most of us had idols and a child, and i would imagine most of our idols were professional athletes vs. musicians or actors…or doctors and scientists i guess. My father had no special talents, nor did he have much of a presence in my life as a kid…which i would imagine is somewhat similar for these guys that made it to their 1st Bowman cards. The baseball season is long and there is a significant amount of travel each season. Being a parent is truly a 24 hour job. Really makes me think how amazing their mothers were…not sure they were as amazing as mine was though. 🙂
I hope to have my son share in my passion for baseball one day. Not sure if it will happen or not…it’s not something i ever want to force on him, it needs to be his decision, and i’m sure he will make the right decision…:)
Not sure how many readers out there have kids, if you do, i hope you can understand the sentiments that i’ve shared here today. It’s a little more personal than i normally like to get, but i felt like it was worthy…thank you for your time to read today.
Here are a few more images from our day…along with a zen like dog photo and a couple pictures of Derek Jeter standing next to a snow buried ruler.
Have a great night and give your family a hug! We’re gonna need each other to get through the next four years of this new Trump nation.
and a song for the day…kinda reminded me of being a kid and going on road trips with my mom each summer…or to visit my father.
I started to collect again because of the birth of my first daughter. I guess I never really stopped, but I geared it back up a little over 7 years ago.
My girls are now 7 and 5 and neither one of them care much for sports or cards. The one season they both played tee ball I was ecstatic, but I don’t think they were because it was back to ballet at the end of the season.
At least one of my daughters is OK with going to the LCS with me. She enjoys going through the dime box of Pokémon cards, knowing I’ll share some of my pages with her so she can add them to her binder.
It is crazy now to see sons of players we both watched growing up playing in the big leagues. I knew of a few, either from pulling cards of their or because of other blogs I read. I didn’t realize however Craig Biggio had a son playing!
that’s great that you are able to take one of your daughters the card shop. for me, right now, that is a lot of fun. just having him around all the cool things that i enjoy collecting is quite priceless. my son is 4 now, so we’re at the age to start getting him involved in sports…i hope.
every time i see a last name i recognize on a younger player, i wonder if they are the son of…
Great post. I can totally relate, especially as the dad of a 5 and 2 year old. I share a lot of your sentiments. One thing I’m finding to be difficult is not being on or near my phone around the kids. I think it’s easy to want to snap so many pictures and videos, that you almost miss out on the memory by trying to capture the memory (if that makes sense).
the phone thing is a big issue in our house as well. sometimes for work, sometimes for play…it’s the screen time we struggle with i guess. i often find myself taking a video or photo trying to capture the moment, rather than just enjoying that moment. i guess, like you said, you miss the memory trying to capture the memory. i guess i can always look back at the photos or video, but it may not always be the same.