A Work In Progress

Just when I think I've got everything figured out, I'm slapped in the face once again by how much I have to learn about parenting and how much of a journey it truly is. Where do I begin...

Last year my son tried out and made a select soccer team made up of fourteen boys in his grade. He's had a really good year. He's played a lot of soccer and has improved his game.

Last week he, along with his teammates and what seemed like about 75 other boys, tried out for three teams for the next season. The second night of tryouts was incredibly hot and he left it feeling less than confident in his performance. As the mother of this wonderful child, I was sure that he was just tired and over-reacting. I felt confident that since he had played on this academy team during the past year, he would make the top team this year.

I picked up the envelope last night and made him wait until after his baseball game to read the results of his try-out. Much to his disappointment and my surprise, he did not make the "A" team, but instead made the "B". Needless to say...he started to bawl and my heart sunk to my knees. How is it that these people evaluating my son did not see that he was one of the best players out there?

After 24 hours, several conversations with my husband, a relatively sleepless night, and some perspective, I'm now wondering...how did I not see that my son was not necessarily one of the best players out there? How did I not prepare him and myself for the possibility that he would not make the team he desired to be on. Ultimately, why did I think it was so important that he make that team?

Here's where parenting gets complicated. What I realized above all else, was that I needed to be okay with what was going on so that I could help him be okay. I was getting so caught up in my son being the best, that I lost sight of him being the best he could be. I'm finding it difficult not to live vicariously through my children. Not to expect them to achieve in order to make up for my shortcomings.

So, where does that leave me at today? I'm definitely in a better place than I was yesterday. I'm able to see things differently and that's helping me to help my son see things differently too. I may not be the best parent in the world, but I'm also not the worst. And when it comes right down to it...it's not about being the best, it's about being the best I can be. As a parent, I'm a work in progress.

Beautiful Brooklyn Bank Building

Last year I was watching Martha Stewart and she did a show about all the cool things going on in Brooklyn, New York. She showed these people who do rooftop gardens and then supply the produce to local restaurants and sell their goods at the local flea markets. Martha visited the Brooklyn Flea Market and ever since then, I've wanted to go.

You can imagine how excited I was when we planned a trip to NY over spring break and I found out the Brooklyn Flea was open and just down the street from my brother-and-sister-in-law's home.

As you may have figured out by now, I'm a sucker for nostalgia. Maybe I glamorize the past beyond what it actually was like, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. So I was very intrigued to check out the Brooklyn Flea's winter home...the Williamsburgh Savings Bank. It is no longer used as a bank, but is rented out for events. It is a building that is rich in architectural beauty and artisanship that you just don't see anymore.

I can't even begin to describe it, so I was really happy when my husband sent me this video from the New York Times talking about this very building we were just in.

I'm glad the building is still being used. I'm glad that the Brooklyn Flea has a winter home. I'm sad that I never got to do my banking in a building as beautiful as this.