We Love Her More

While I watched my daughter play volleyball in Gatlinburg, TN, my wife was home watching my son play baseball in Louisville, KY. A couple who has several daughters involved in travel volleyball was sitting next to me watching their youngest play while the older sisters played in a tournament several hours away. Curious as to why they didn’t split up and have one parent in each city to provide full coverage, their answer enlightened me. They shared they would rather spend time with one another than be split up in different cities. Their kids understood the reasoning and to them, it was normal. This is quite different than what I am used to and upon hearing them share their insight, it prompted me to wonder if maybe my wife and I should do the same?

As parents, we invest so much time and money to provide our kids with every opportunity to do whatever it is they want to do. Maybe we feel with so much invested, we committed ourselves to make sure we see every pitch, serve and kick to let our kids know how much we care. But the reality is, if we’re there or not, the amount we care is the same. I wonder if our minds would change if our kids played in a rec league game vs the highly competitive travel ball circuit we’ve become accustomed?

I’m taking this as a lesson learned. It’s not about loving one kid more than another, it’s about doing the best you can, to see as much as you can with your spouse. I’ll work to spend more time with my spouse and enjoy the time and experiences together as a couple while we travel around the country following our crazy, overcommitted kids.