OH those long car rides!

[default]

Driving across town nearly an hour each way for a pitching lesson, my head was ready to explode from the negative spew coming from the passenger seat. DD had a list a mile long regarding what?s wrong with school ball but didn?t want to hear from me why things work the way they do, why coaches act the way they do, or why kids whine like they do.

I know why teens think and feel like they do (immature brain development is the truth), I understand why soon-to-be grads act out like they do (fear of growing up and leaving home sets in for a while), and I totally sympathize with how the adults who are trapped with them during the day must feel when the afternoon bell rings. None of that stopped me from asking the pitching coach to bean the kid upside the head with a ball (not that she did or would but I felt a little better saying it). So I cooled down during her lesson and enjoyed the progress she has made since coming off a winter of shoulder rehab; listened to her chatter happily with a different adult; watched her actually listen to the coach explain the challenges of coaching school ball vs travel. Coming from a different person seemed to help because the ride home was less negative.

Supporting our crazy DD?s may lead us to therapy or drive us to drink from adult sippy cups more often than may be appropriate but those long rides are priceless.

What do you talk about during those long drives to lessons and games?

 

[default]

I find that when my 14 YO has her ear buds in we argue less. Plus I get to enjoy my music....

 

[default]

Luckily I had three girls and learned from my mistakes....after the first, I learned to listen and be a sponge to their venting. The venting slowly becomes chatter, then chatter a level headed conversation and I only tried to answer with a positive spin..... They will always choose what to tune out even after they are married and on their own. Cherish those drives as it may feel like a root canal listening, but dang those were great rides as I look back.....

 

[default]

Normally it's just nice to be with her, tonight will be different, last night I told her she could drive to La Grange for pitching lesson. First time on the Highway, yikes.lol

 

[default]

Put your catcher gear on chixdad and you will be fine, lol.

 

[default]

I miss the long rides to practice now that school ball has started. My DD is 15 and I usually just wait and she will start talking. I hear her frustrations about school and generally I will try also to put a more positive spin on things and give her something to think about.
My favorite part of the ride is when she talks about what is going on in her life. The car rides have brought us very close as Mother/Daughter. I have gotten to watch from the front seat as my little girl with scraped knees and stinky cleats has become a beautiful, intelligent young woman with scraped knees and stinky cleats.
I Love the car rides because once we get home life intrudes.

 

[default]

Normally it's just nice to be with her, tonight will be different, last night I told her she could drive to La Grange for pitching lesson. First time on the Highway, yikes.lol

Prayers for you! That's where we were last night, very dark highway ride home after the last session. I have only taken her 3 times in the last 18 months because Dad usually gets that job so DD has to navigate me; she didn't recognize the exit in the light of day-that almost made me laugh.

 

[default]

we now call them adventures, not long car rides. Once in Pennsylvania I let dd navigate to a gas station, on E. She took me to a gas station, 30mls down the road, in a state park, on a Sunday at 10pm, to a place called Wilbers. Needless to say, there was nothing there. We asked some Dudes on the road(yes not safe) for directions to station. My Toyota can go 40mls on E. Last month we went up for placement testing at her college. 10inches of snow! I made her walk to dinner from hotel. Told her to dress for weather, Miss, I wont get cold, had a chilly walk to dinner and was a little angry. We take the wrong turns, get giddy, get lost in some creepy areas. When my tom tom doesn't make sense I have a good friend, prior coach, that answers my distress calls and helps me get back on track. Once had a flat tire at 730am in a bad area of a city. Had a 8am appointment with a college coach. My dd and her catcher now know how to change a tire, under pressure, on phone to dad, and still make the appointment time. I will miss the adventures.

 

[default]

Our big thing was guessing the classic/hair band rock groups on the radio, and me telling concert stories. There are some songs to this day that she will simulate the flicking of the lighter to, lol. She still will randomly text me a line from a song and im supposed to reply with the next line. I think my DD knows more about classic rock than i do at this point.

 

[default]

I print a lot of the links people have posted on here and have DD read out loud so we can talk about the different points being made.

 

[default]

The bond I have with my daughter is one of my greatest treasures in life, and it was really built due primarily to softball ... 10 years of car rides while she played travel ball, 4 years of phone calls while she played college ball, and a few more summers of car rides while we coached travel ball together. She's now assistant coach at a local community college, and they have an upcoming trip to Maryland where she won't be able to travel with the team due to her work schedule, so she and I are going to be making that trip together as well ... I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that ...

 

[default]

Our big thing was guessing the classic/hair band rock groups on the radio, and me telling concert stories. There are some songs to this day that she will simulate the flicking of the lighter to, lol. She still will randomly text me a line from a song and im supposed to reply with the next line. I think my DD knows more about classic rock than i do at this point.

We still play that name that tune and by whom for radio control to this day!! Awesome hitter!

 

[default]

My wife asks me why I drive my dd to hitting lessons - cause that is where you bond! Any even better now, cause no tension from me coaching her! Good time to be a father:

1. Listen
2. Give perspective
3. Reinforce Values
4. Tell her that I love her

Repeat