Each day, as drive around town running errands, or chauffeuring my children to various activities, I pass tennis courts. You would think summer would be prime tennis time for me...unfortunately, the opposite is true. Summer is the time of year when I suffer from tennis withdrawal. I feel like I'm on a diet and I'm in the food court at the mall. So damn tempting, but I have to practice self control.
As I drive by the courts, I see my favorite tennis pro, feeding people balls and shouting out directions. I see doubles teams chatting between games. I receive e-mails and phone calls asking me to play...and most of the time, I have to decline. After all, how selfish would it be to deny my daughters a swim meet, or a play date, or blow countless wads of cash hiring a babysitter at 12 bucks an hour.
Fall and Spring are my golden times. The girls are in school, the weather is perfect and I can easily sneak in an hour or two of court time.
I cherish the days of summer spent with my daughters, but I do look longingly at those courts and yearn for the days I can get back out there and play the game I love.
So here's my plan...I'm going to dedicate as much time as my daughters will allow me to working on THEIR tennis games. We'll spend some "quality time" in the great outdoors, and the payoff will be, in a few short years I'll have two live-in tennis partners/opponents.
It's pure genius.
Footnote: As I wrote this, my oldest daughter sat next to me, and started whining that she wants to use my computer, she wouldn't let up....I can't wait to make her stand on the court tomorrow, feeding her balls and working on her backhand. I can see it now, she'll complain she's bored, or it's too hot out, or she'd rather be with her friends. I'll get annoyed and we'll probably leave the courts in 15 minutes. (There's a reason pros make $50 an hour.) But hey...the fantasy was fun while it lasted.