My kids might just turn out to have awesome sporting genes

Of all the YOG-related campaigns I’ve seen in recent weeks, I think this TV commercial by P&G was probably one of the most brilliant. It was a nice touch on their part to pay homage to all the mothers who believed in the potential they saw in their kids right from the very start.

Maybe I’m biased because I’m a mom but now more than ever, I’ve come to realize that mothers really do play a huge role in shaping the way our kids turn out. Sure, there are some who go overboard in trying to cultivate talents by sending their kids to 10 different enrichment classes every week, hoping that they will become the next Leonardo (I meant the actor, not the old painter dude) or Michael (Jordan or Phelps or Jackson). But on the other end of the spectrum, plenty of raw talent goes unnoticed because moms were too busy to see that their kid could run laps faster than Dash from The Incredibles.

The husband and I, we’re both passionate sports fans. The kind that stays up all night for Champions League matches in full gear, trash-talking the competition and getting all worked up over bad refereeing decisions. Yeah, that kind of passionate. I used to play a bit of basketball back in the day and he was a soccer boy so from time to time, we dream about how awesome it would be if Tru could play for Arsenal or Manchester United someday. Or maybe Kirsten would turn out to be the next Sharapova, except hotter. Heck, I’ll even take Ping Pong, as soon as they burn those frumpy jerseys and come up with some prettier ones. With frills.

The only thing about being in Singapore is that we’ve still got some way to go before parents start taking sports that seriously. I used to think that few of us go pro because of the genes. We’re just not tall or fast or muscular enough to compete at the highest level so parents don’t see sports as a viable career for their kids. But then again, we’d never know if parents don’t give their kids a chance to develop their talents. So it becomes a vicious cycle, really.

I mean, when I was playing ball, none of us ever wanted to play pro ball. The best of us got to the National Team, only to get their asses whipped by Thailand or Cambodia. And don’t even get me started on China. We once went on an exchange trip to visit a sports school in China let’s just say that their 8-year-olds terrified 15-year-old me on the court. If I had any dreams of choosing basketball as a career, they got squashed good and proper during that trip. So far, we have 1 sports school, which is a start, but I know many moms still balk at the thought of having their kid turn out to be a struggling athlete.

If you ask me, I’m not sure it’s the genes though. Lots of Chinese dudes do spectacularly well in various sports so it’s not like we don’t have the physique to excel. Which boils it down to exposure. And having someone to recognize the talent, believe in it and put in the time and effort to cultivate it even if nobody else thinks they can succeed.

That’s where moms come in. They look past the obvious shortcomings and see the potential. They motivate, encourage and believe. I mean, who would have thought that a kid with ADHD could turn out to be the fastest swimmer in the world? Well, his momma did, that’s who.

For now, Tru has already taken a fancy to soccer so the husband kicks a ball around with him at home, which is so cute to watch because every time he kicks the ball he goes “GOALLLLLLL” whether or not it is actually one. I bet that’s how Rooney started out.