Earn it

Can a 14 year old go deep, know his reasons for doing things, feel passionate? How do we as his parents help keep him motivated and do the thing he said he wants to do? Is it really our job? How do we help him to not throw in the towel because this thing called baseball training is super hard? And let me remind you we are on a tropical island a couple of blocks away from the ocean. He hasn’t even seen it yet since our arrival 3 weeks ago.

We have a cousin who is one of Rio’s biggest fans, his name is Checo, he is in his 40’s. He is pretty persistent with his feelings about Rio and baseball. This is what he said, in Spanish of course but I will translate. Rio is tall, elegant and beautiful. He has the capacity to play baseball therefore he should play. Not everyone has that opportunity or is gifted the ability. Rio is loved by everyone here in Los Dajaos, DR ( where Rio’s dad is from) and Rio loves everyone back. His ability to love the children here is felt by everyone. Checo said a reason for Rio to play, his motivation should be to give something back to the community of Los Dajaos, do it for the children.

Rio in 2017 playing with one of our cousins.

All in all, my thoughts over the course of this week can’t be jotted down in a blog and maybe should be left right where they are- in my head. Rio said he had a tough week but in the end he is happy. We slept in today and went to the gym. He is currently playing Fortnite online with his brother in USA. Rio will finish his weekend by hanging out with a new friend tonight, a Dominican American kid who is here doing the same thing as Rio.

This title is what came to mind this morning. Last night Rio said he wanted to go home. We went away for the weekend to be with family. It was a 4 hour ride from door to door, there and back. Rio is a home body, he definitely does not have my lust for adventure. So even though we had a mini vacation from our new life, it was a distraction. As we have been homeschooling for awhile now and as we have 3 boys, finding the balance between freedom and military academy is where we are at.

Our daily routine, walk 8 minutes from door to metro.

This “thing”, I knew it would come, just a matter of when. After he said “I want to go home”, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I know it is an ever fleeting feeling, “home”. But I am his mom and this was my response, “the newness and excitement of being here is over, now comes the hard part”. He said nothing. When we got in bed, we are sharing a room with twin beds, I asked him if he wanted to talk, he said nothing.

These are a few sweet moments of the kids laughing- this morning before practice.

He woke up a lot last night- me, trying not to worry, kept those feelings to myself. This morning he got ready like regular. We went to practice and all seemed regular. The feelings of last night dissipated. What was different about today is that he earned something. Three weeks in and he is hitting the ball and one of the trainers commented, he asked me if I was happy with Rio’s new swing. Rio is trainable. Imagine a pitch that he is used to, maybe 60 miles an hour. Now during his practice the kids are pitching 80 miles and up. He is learning how to see that ball, it has been a challenge for him.

The swing.

As we are so in sync as a family, it is no surprise to me the Adoni started acting up yesterday. I asked Luis if he had eaten too much sugar. But the reality is 3 weeks into our new life is a challenge for us. Luis signed Adoni up for kickboxing training at Acension gym. He can go 5 days a week if he wants. Hopefully this will help Adoni stay focused and not feel out of control. Adoni was free roaming in Dominican Republic, running for 1.5 months, every day, all day. He needs some grounding right now.

With Love, Marlo and the Boys

We are going for a ride!

Hard week, soul searching.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.