Kids love context.
Coaches not so much.
Why?
Context is the environment in which skills need to be applied. A wonderful place actually. It is surfing the turbulence. It is kicking a ball against ambitious opponents. It is cooking, dancing, drawing, signing, writing, acting, and building.
For a child this is bliss. Getting in, getting wet, and sorting it out is pretty darn fun. Yes, things don’t always work to plan, but how many kids have plans anyway?
Adults have plans.
For an educator context is perceived as chaos. It pains us. We see failure and it burdens our longing for perfection. Too much salt, colors outside the lines, balls sprayed wide, songs out of tune, a dangling participle. Ouch. Order, please.
Kids are not out of order; they are “extra-order-nary.” They reach far beyond the bounds of order. They get dirty, swallow the sea, paint popsicles on pick-up trucks, and count herons as seagulls as the piece together meaning. They are learning and learning in the way the world asks of them: in context.
Do they need guidance? Of course. Do they need protection? Of course. Do they need parents, educators, and coaches? Most certainly.
Do they need our hang ups? No.
Do they need our anxiety? No.
Do they need our overbearing egos? Most certainly not.
Context is painful. But over the years, I have found that it is a powerful place to strive and the best place to thrive.
Maybe we adults can leave a little room for the struggle? Maybe we can leave a little room for trial and error? Maybe we can ask ourselves if context is as painful to a child as it is to our need for control?
Maybe context is not as painful after all.
In fact, it may just be the best place to raise a child.