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Beyond Winning & Losing
My oldest daughter, Emma, didn’t come by the acting bug by accident. Oh, no! She inherited that vital gene directly from her momma. And, believe me, it’s a STRONG one. In my LBT (Life Before Tennis), I owned a fitness business and spent many, many hours promoting it as an “expert” on the radio, the Web, tv, and in front of live audiences. I never passed up an opportunity to be on camera (or on mic), even when it meant schlepping my infant son across the country on an 8-city promo tour with an athletic shoe company.
So, last week, when I was given a lead for a new reality television show about Tennis Moms (a la Dance Moms), I jumped on it. I called the producer and spoke with her at length about my experiences in the Junior Tennis World as well as with the media, thinking I would be the perfect candidate for her. The thought of being on tv again excited me. I was already trying to figure out how I would squeeze in more workout sessions before the show taped so I would be at my fittest and strongest on camera and how in the world I was going to afford new clothes.
And then my son came home.
And I told him about the tv show.
And he begged me not to pursue it.
And this is one more tiny little sacrifice I will make for one of my kids. Because that’s what we parents do – we sometimes put aside our own wants (and even needs) for our kids. In this case, it was an easy decision. My son has worked too long and too hard for me to risk jeopardizing his efforts because of my own narcissistic tendencies. He’s right – by being part of a show that will magnify the already-huge personalities of some extreme tennis parents, I would be putting him in an awkward (at best!) position with his tennis peers, their parents, and the governing body.
I honored my son’s wishes and stepped away from the tv project. I figure that just frees me up when the Tennis Channel comes calling!
