I wasn’t a cheerleader in high school. More of an orchestra nerd. But now I could totally make the cut. I’m a football mom and cheering is what I do. I’m learning it’s one of the most important things I will ever do as a mom.
The other day at Luke’s first practice, I was yelling positivity and throwing my thumbs up from my folding chair after every play. My husband tried to shush me. But my cheer voice has no filter. I will not be shushed.
Granted my little guy is only in second grade and playing flag football, but all the more reason to cheer. This is his first taste of the game. His first time wearing a mouth guard. His first time running routes and yelling “Down, set, HIKE!”
And he’s little.
I mean he got the short end of the gene stick. (pun intended) Poor kid. He has a mom who is 5’1 and a dad who…. well… isn’t a basketball player.
But Luke has heart and excitement. He got that from me.
And he has guts and speed. Got that from my dad.
Little man is super competitive. That’s from my husband.
But also really hard on himself when he fails. We all pass a little of that down, don’t we?
That last one gets me every time. I know as he gets older his mind will be filled with self-doubt and discouragement. I know that as he makes his way to adulthood he will sometimes feel…
too short
too small
too … much
not smart enough
not good enough
not ….enough
So now, while I have him and while I’m sitting on my lawn chair at his flag football practice, I will be cheering– no, yelling– that he’s…
AWESOME!
SO FAST!
LUKE THE JUKE!
KEEP TRYING!
YOU GOT IT!
And you know what? After practice, my little boy came over and said with a big smile, “Thanks for cheering for me, mom.”
Mamas. Keep cheering hard for your kids. They hear you. And it matters. At home. At school. At flag football. At orchestra concerts. Cheer loud and proud.
Cheer so that when they are someday outside of our earshot — when they make mistakes and feel down — our belief will still be ringing loud in their ears.
And they will get back up.
Andrea Chatelain 