5 Ways a Non-Athletic Mom Can Raise Athletic Boys

Hi everyone!! 

I'm Jessica and I blog over at Little Bits of Joy... a place that's all about the beautiful, the ugly, and the funny parts of life and motherhood. 

I'm so excited to be guest posting for the lovely Whitney today, 

and to share my experiences of being a Boy Mom with you all!

Let's talk sports... shall we? One thing I quickly learned about raising boys is that they are super duper, ridiculously energetic... and if you don't want them to completely destroy your house and furniture, then sports is a great way to get them to burn off all that energy! 

But what do you do if you yourself are really non-athletic?? That is my problem... I mean, I tried to be athletic growing up.. 

I had the look down... frizzy hair in a scrunchie, hot pink laces in my shoes, spandex under my up-to-my-belly-button shorts.. totally LEGIT.

I mean, not everyone can be a superstar like I was...I'm still not sure how my dreams of the Olympics never came true...

I did realize the point of pole vault was to go OVER the bar... right?????

Yeah. Impressive, no??? More like impressive at how bad I was.

But despite my lack of athletic skills, when it comes to raising boys who ARE athletic, I developed a few tricks!!!

Five Ways an Non-Athletic Mom Can Raise Athletic Boys

1. Invent New Sports

We invented a game called Punch Ball. You take a beach ball and toss it to your kid who then lunges towards it, punching it back to you. Odd use of everyday items like fly swatters (demonstrated by Owen) to hit the beach ball are also encouraged. 

Inventing new wacky games is not only fun and delightful for your kids, but they don't have to require any skill from you! Anyone can toss a beach ball! Get creative with new rules, fun challenges and find ways to use everyday items!

2. Be The #1 Fan

My husband is very athletic... that is definitely where my boys got their genes from... because... well look again at the pole vaulting pic of me. #NoSkills

He plays on a baseball league during the summer and my boys love to go and watch and participate as much as they can. Is it my favorite way to spend an entire Sunday?? Sitting on the hard bleachers watching baseball? Not really. But being the #1 Fan for the activities my boys are into IS really important. 

They will blossom and be encouraged to keep participating if you show how much you care about their interests. Just bring some snacks along if you've got an all day baseball game. Gotta have snacks.

3. Fake It Till Ya Make It

Hockey? I don't know the first thing about hockey... despite endless hours in middle school watching The Mighty Ducks movies.... but when Austin wanted me to play hockey with him... how could I say no?

Hit the ball around, do silly things to make them laugh ("watch me this time, I can hit the ball hopping on one foot!!")... the important thing is that you are playing with them, and creating that memory in their minds of "Mommy is fun and plays with me." So you don't know all the rules of a sport? That's ok... just fake it!!! 

4. Let Them Teach You

Is your kid showing interest in a sport?? Awesome! Ask them about it. Play dumb, really... 

"What's the name of the guy who throws the ball again?"

"Da pitcher, Mommy!!"

"Oh that's right.. and you're... the quarterback?"

"No Mommy!!! I'm da batter!!!"

Asking questions engages them in the activity, and proves to them that you are interested in what they are interested in. Plus... what young kid DOESN'T like to be right and be the "authority" about something?? Buy them books about the sports they like and read them together... that may or may not be how I learned some of the positions in football.

5. Leave It To The Experts

Thankfully there are tons of camps and programs in communities to get kids involved in sports. We signed Austin up for a little soccer camp and he loved it!!! I can't manage to kick a ball without tripping over it and face planting on the ground.. so some things are just better left to the experts!! 

See what kind of camps or programs your community has and sign your kids up! They will feel so cool and special to get to do something out of the ordinary, and you'll get to just sit back and watch!

Thank you again to Whitney for letting me take over your blog today, while you are busy being a Super Momma to your sweet kiddos!!! Welcome to the Boy Mom club... you'll need some wine, FYI!!! And better get that beach ball ready for some games of Punch Ball!!! 

xoxo- Jess

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Head over to Becky's Blog byBMG to link up your $10 Target finds!