Tennis Camp

The kids participated in tennis camp for the first time this summer. It was in the next neighborhood over. The tennis coach did a great job teaching them various drills, but let me just say it was hot, super hot. Watching them at camp really illustrated their personality differences. Aislin was the youngest child in the camp, and it showed. Bless her heart, she had the hardest time initially hitting that ball. But true to her nature she persevered. This child is SO confident and has great self-esteem. She is a true optimist.

Rather than focusing on how many times it took her swinging to make contact, she would focus on that 1 time out of 20 when she hit the ball. Then she would run across the court to make sure the coach, Blaine the other students and then finally her mother knew that she hit the ball! She can be an intense, strong willed child, but I do admire her confidence. I love the fact that she loves life.

Aislin after hitting the ball, she left the court to run up to me and stated "Woo Hoo!":

Blaine, in contrast, is like the typical first born. He is serious and focused and puts so much pressure on himself to be the best. If he is not the best at what he is doing he is likely to want to quit (reference the post a year or so ago about karate). Every morning it took me coaxing him, encouraging him, and then finally threatening to take away computer and tv time, if he did not get out there for the drills. He decided which aspect of tennis (airplane) that he liked the best, the one that was easiest for him, and decided that he would only participate during that time. The first three mornings were quite frustrating. We would sit in the hot sun for 10 minutes while I worked to get him out with the rest of the group. Sometimes I just want to scream at him to "get over yourself". I've had many talks with him about how he can choose to participate in life or sit on the sides and watch life pass him by. We have quit soccer, t-ball, and flag football. I am sick of quitting things. You can't be the best at everything, but you can be good enough. Blaine needs to learn how to be good enough at things. I am a perfectionist so I understand. But honestly, I don't need him to be the best for me. I couldn't careless if he were the worst player on every team. I just care that he is getting out there, trying, and getting some exercise. Finally after venting to Brent he had a talk with Blaine. He explained to Blaine that it is disrespectful to the coach for him to sit there and not participate until he is ready. He was so right. I just couldn't put my finger on it, but that was exactly why it irked me so bad. It was disrespectful to sit on the sides and only join in when he thought best. So finally, the last day of camp, Blaine participated the whole time, woo hoo!

Blaine demonstrating his favorite swing "airplane":

They ended up making a separate group for Aislin and Blaine and usually one other child. Aislin needed a lot more instruction than the other kids and it seemed to boost Blaine's confidence to be with her and just one other child.

They ended up learning a lot and got in some great exercise. They run drills after school throughout the school year. I plan to take them this fall to at least 1 day, and maybe 2 a week. We have continued on our never ending quest to find a sport for Blaine. This fall we will try tennis....There has got to be the right sport out there for him and I will not stop until we find it!