Friday, April 13, 2007
Allie's volleyball team has a tournament in the Chicago suburbs this weekend, so I drove out there to see her and my parents.
The hotel lobby was full of volleyball parents discussing the minutia of their children's lives. Mom and another woman talked about what dorm Allie would be staying in next year and with whom, and who would be staying in the dorm room next to them, and who would be staying in the dorm room on the other side of them.
Me: Mom seems to know more about Allie's life than Allie does.
Dad: Yeah. But, you know... she's retired. All the kids are out of the house. It's something to do. These parents are nice people. This is modern parenting, I guess. You follow your children all over the place and sit around all day, waiting.
Me: Are the parents of your players the same way?
Dad: Oh yeah. Mostly. The mothers more than the fathers usually. But sometimes.
It's a short visit for my parents. They have to be back in Ohio by Sunday for Dad's end-of-the-season basketball banquet.
Dad: I'm darn tired. A season wears you out. And I'm getting old, it takes longer to bounce back. But... a couple nice sunny days, a couple trips to the golf course, that tends to help.
