The Parents

I have always loved the excitement of the Olympics, but I confess that this year I am watching these athletes from a completely different perspective.  I used to cheer from the perspective of a peer, maybe a teammate, a cheerleader, a friend... now I watch and cheer from the perspective of a mother.

I don't really think that our children are going to have the resources to become Olympians while training here in Rifle, Colorado... but if they did have some extraordinary talent in a sport... it could be less than 20 years before they'd be in the Olympics.

Many of these athletes are 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 years old... my children are two and six months... they could be at the Olympics.  Before they graduate college -- heck, before they graduate high school, before they get married, before they have children... they could be completing at the Olympics.

No wonder they are always showing the parents.  These athletes, so many of them really are just kids.  The parents are the ones who supported these dreams.  The parents are as instrumental to the team and the dreams as the coach and the equipment.

These parents have to be the proudest people on the planet.

I saw an add online the other day, and it just caught my heart in my throat because these Olympians are just kids... and when their parents watch them compete and contend for gold... their parents still see their little baby playing in the pool -- just like I do when I watch my children right now.

God bless these parents.  You deserve every bit of credit for your child's success.