The start of a new season is always exciting. I coach the high school varsity swim team every winter for the last 10 years, and with practice just beginning comes all sorts of emotions. Exhaustion, excitement, nerves, hope, ambition… and these are true for me as well as the athletes. We come into the season hopeful, but yet not at all knowing what to expect.
Making it work
It all starts many weeks before we actually get in the water. While we are busy picking out and ordering suits and caps, setting up meets, making up rosters, I am also spending my time figuring out the calendar of child coverage and how to make everything in my life balance while I add another plate. I have to make sure my three children are being taken care of, get their homework done, have rides to their own practices, etc. We also have to make sure my husband requests off work for the weekend where I am at a meet from sunup to sundown. This is a joint force between the two of us with some extra help from the grandparents. There are days where the kids get to have fun with their grandparents, and other days where I am coaching with a toddler on my back, but we somehow always make it work.
so worth it
So why do I do it? All the scheduling and rushing to practice? It is all worth it when a swimmer finishes a race, realizes the won or beat their time, and my face is the first one they make eye contact with through blurry tears. I even look forward to the dripping wet hugs after a time drop. Oftentimes the swimmer even let me nap on their blanket during down time at an all-day meet. It is not always an easy thing to do especially with a full-time job and three kids, but they definitely make it worth it.
one day at a time
Transitions are hard! The most common are when we have to return to school from summer break, the start of a new sport or club season, a shift in jobs, a new home, or even a new baby. Those are life transitions that we know are going to be difficult. We prepare ourselves, we make plans, and we breathe through it. However, there are less noticeable ones that are sometimes just as hard. For example, when your daughter packs her own lunch for the first time, or the last time your baby makes you rock them to sleep. These transitions often go unnoticed until they’re gone. Therefore, no matter how busy life may get I want to try and breathe in all of those moments while they happen. Embrace them now, because you never know when a new transition is right around the corner.
I will update again as the season progresses…