We’re looking forward to the holiday weekend this weekend, and I hope you have some fun things planned. We have a little bit of everything on the schedule this weekend, but it’s all good! Let’s get going with this week’s Friday 5+1! This post contains some affiliate links.
Bunch O Ballons
Surely with the holiday weekend there will be water involved in some way shape or form. If you don’t have a pool, grab a Bunch O Balloons and have a water ballon toss with the kids, or a full out water balloon war (which I would anticipate if you have teens). The Bunch O Balloons makes fast work for creating water balloons for a crowd. My daughter had some and put them to work when she had a friend over to hang out. Her advice, “Shake the hose so that they’ll come loose, and make sure you don’t fill them up too much or they’ll explode.”
MacBook Wood Skin
I think I still have college on the brain after going to my son’s orientation last week, but I’m thinking he and I could both use one of these MacBook wood skins. That’s the cool thing about them – they work for men and women, don’t you think?
Monopoly
We got into a great game of Monopoly as a family this week, and can I just tell you how much fun we had? While it’s a parenting fail on my part for not introducing this game to the kids sooner, it was a huge hit. We’re on our third game this week, and it’s a lot of fun to watch the kids learn, plot and bargain.
Luckily the game didn’t end like this:
I have to say that I’m a fan of the “vintage” Monopoly game. I just like things old school when it comes to this game, as I remember playing it a lot as a kid. Hearing that they’re changing some of the game pieces just makes me a little bit sad (as my game piece is the thimble). 😉
Vintage Packaging
Speaking of vintage, how cute are these Lemmy’s Lemonade bottles? I’m a sucker for cute packaging. And yes, I bought one.
Large Paint Samples
I don’t think I’ve shared these before, so forgive me if this is a duplicate, but even if it is, it’s worth sharing. I wish all paint stores would have these oversized paint sample swatches in their most popular colors. So smart. And I saw this at Walmart!
My +1 for the week – The End of Baseball for my Graduate
Both of our boys have played baseball for as long as I can remember. We’re a baseball family, and while things can get crazy and hectic, the boys love the game, and I love watching them. Both of my boys are left-handed pitchers, and watching them pitch is one of my favorite things during baseball season. We just found out this week, after an MRI, that my oldest son has a torn UCL, which essentially means the end of pitching. While I didn’t expect him to play in the MLB, he had planned on trying to walk on and try out in college. Who knows if that would have panned out, but I’m just sad that this is the way it all went down. I had planned on at least watching him this summer, and had prepared myself for baseball ending that way vs. ending in an injury. I get teary just sitting her writing about it. Knowing that in all likelihood, I won’t get to see him pitch again, hurts.
Is it the end of the world? Of course not. Surgery isn’t even required, as it’s an injury that’s related specifically to throwing. I am still trying to gauge how he feels about it, and I’m pretty sure that I’m more upset than he is at this point. It’s just another one of those things that sneak up on you when you least expect it. Parenting these older teens is hard. There are articles in my Facebook feed about your little boy becoming a man, dropping them off at college, and I just have to skip them because I’m on the verge of tears just reading the title of the article.
Thanks for letting me (over)share. 🙂
Have an awesome holiday weekend.
Jenny
6 Comments
c
June 30, 2017 at 7:53 amGood morning! I just read this post and had to share some thoughts – feel free to ignore but it really struck a cord.
My son was always a basketball guy and his sophomore year he suddenly had a new coach who was very cruel and demeaned my son. He ended a long season with the coach telling him not to even bother trying out next year. This is very different from your son and his injury – I know. But what I wanted to share was that after a few months my son fell into a depression. He seemed ok at first, told us he was fine but slowly turned into a guy I didn’t know. He is great now after some therapy and time. But what we learned was he felt basketball was his identity – that he was ” Bob, the basketball player” and after loosing that he wasn’t sure who he was. His friends were all on the team so he was lonely during practice, etc. I think a lot of kids go through this in high school, but what I wanted to mention was the slow change – it was not a sudden outburst or tears or anything like that.
Anyway, thats my post.
Jenny
June 30, 2017 at 11:49 amThis breaks my heart, and I can tell you that we had some similar experiences in high school baseball. My son played for the high school team his freshman and sophomore year, and then didn’t make the team his junior year. It was really upsetting for all of us, because it honestly didn’t make sense. Last summer he had issues with his back and had gone through physical therapy, and debated about trying out for the high school team again. He sent a note to the coach, telling him he had been rehabbing, and he knew it was late in the tryout process, but was thinking about trying out. The coach told him he could try out, but probably wouldn’t make the team. Really? It’s all very disheartening, and it makes my younger one think twice about trying out for the team, quite honestly.
Tara
June 30, 2017 at 5:41 pmTotally understand how you feel about your son. I remember how I felt when our son, while IN college, decided he wasn’t going to play soccer any more. Just one day said I’ve had enough, I’m done, I quit. GULP! He was done with all it entailed, but he was lost for a little while. Soccer was such a part of him. It had driven his teen years and even choice of college.
While your son may be hard to read, do keep an eye on him. He may not even know how he feels just yet, especially since the ending was so quick and it wasn’t his choice. He may be down about it and not really realize it.
Large paint samples? Be still my heart!
Shelly Mathes
June 30, 2017 at 5:56 pmLove the picture of the Monopoly game that is a standard ending, ha. My husband was a pitcher in high school, his coach rotated him playing outfield as well, maybe that helped his arm some but not sure. Sorry about your son and his arm. Happy 4th!
Cindy
June 30, 2017 at 8:59 pmOk, girl mom here! My daughter played sports in HS and volleyball in college. After her first season, she realized college sports wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. That and a lingering back issue (she was the tall lanky one jumping in the middle of the front row) gave her the courage to quit and change colleges.
Like others have said, so much of their identity is tied to who they were athletically. My daughter missed the sense of being a part of something bigger, that sense of group. She filled that void by joining a sorority. Encourage your son to continue playing perhaps intramurals and in a less stressful physically position.
I totally get you on the end of an era. I was sad and have great memories of her sports years .
Meghan
June 30, 2017 at 10:46 pmWell for pete’s sake…. now i am teared-up!