40代の母親ナナコは、長男のサッカーの悩みに困惑していた。夫は楽しめれば問題ないと考えていたが、ナナコは長男のスキルに焦点を当てすぎていた。先輩から聞いた話により、楽しみ方には個人差があり、続けることも重要だと気づいた。そこで、長男が楽しく続けている限り支援することを決意し、気持ちが楽になった。子供の習い事を通して成長する機会を得たナナコは、子供の可能性を新たな視点で見るようになった。
Continuing from last time. I (Nanako, in my 40s) live with my husband (Tomohiro, in his 40s) and our two sons, a fifth-grader (Yuuki) and a third-grader (Shouta). We used to enjoy it as half play, but as the grades went up, the skills of the members started to differ, and now our eldest son is practically a benchwarmer. With a lackluster expression, he watches from the sidelines during matches. He doesn’t put in extra effort to practice on his own and just spends his time leisurely. I find myself giving unnecessary comments, comparing him to friends and our younger son. My husband, who has a sports background, believes that as long as he’s having fun, that’s what matters. While I agree with my husband’s opinion, I still have conflicting feelings.
Currently, I can’t shake off the worries about my eldest son’s soccer. During lunch breaks at work, I confide in my senior colleagues. One of them has an adult son who used to play basketball in his student days.
“My son, he casually continued playing basketball for a long time, but honestly, he wasn’t very good at it,” my senior’s words were eye-opening.
“He used to be thrilled to become a little hero in PE classes. Even now, he’s still playing basketball as part of a social circle. Having something he loves motivates him to work hard in his job as well.” I was moved by my senior’s story, realizing there are different ways to find pleasure.
“Yeah, think of soccer as one of life’s pleasures. No matter how old your child is, as a parent, it’s nice to see them having fun,” my senior’s different perspective taught me a lot. Furthermore, my senior empathized with my feelings.
Indeed, the ability to “persevere” is also a skill. I may have overlooked my eldest son’s efforts by only thinking about improvement.
“I should simply accept that if my eldest son is having fun, then it’s okay.” I decided to change my perspective and support him if he doesn’t want to quit, even if it seems like he’s not putting in much effort in my eyes.
Subsequently, my son’s situation didn’t dramatically change. He still doesn’t engage in self-practice much and hasn’t been selected as a regular player. But since I stopped nagging him, he started coming back looking happier. Once I decided that if my son is enjoying it, then he can continue, my feelings surprisingly eased up. I never thought I would receive an opportunity for growth through my child’s extracurricular activities.
To be continued in Episode 4.
Original concept by MamaStar Community, Script by rollingdell, Artwork by Sakura Haruno, Editing by Moe Tsukada