Your Next 50 Yards - December 29, 2022 | Kids Out and About Hudson Valley <

Your Next 50 Yards

December 29, 2022

Debra Ross

I spent last Saturday afternoon doing something I'd never before done on Christmas Eve: watching football.

My children were amused, as they have been since late 2020, when I started watching the Buffalo Bills in earnest. It was smack in the middle of Covid; Western New York needed some reasons to be happy while we were stuck inside away from people here in Nature's Refrigerator... and the Bills were playing magnificently for the first time in almost 30 years. Given both my reverence for excellence and also my mission to increase the happiness quotient in my corner of the world when possible, I signed on to the Bills Mafia roster and have been cheering them on ever since. "Are we sports people now?" the girls would ask as they'd see me and the dogs settling in front of the TV for the latest installment of what I call Nerds Watching Football. My answer was one I've given them their whole lives: "We are whatever we decide to be. We can go in a new direction any time we choose. Want some popcorn?" They'd wisely back away before I could launch into my standard lecture on the joys and sorrows of free will.

As cliché as it sounds, it's true, and important to keep in mind when raising kids: You are whatever you decide to be, and your kids are whoever they decide to be. That's especially useful to remember as your special team is starting to write on the blank slate of a new year: Although the first of January is a poetic time to make decisions, you can head in a new direction any time you're so inspired just by pivoting a few degrees, setting your sights on a fresh new goal-line, and plowing ahead in earnest. Watching underdogs succeeding always inspires me, so my plan is to design this year's KidsOutAndAbout strategy while Josh, Stefon, and the rest of the Bills glow on my screen.Debra Ross, publisher

Wishing you and your family much success as you head to your own personal line of scrimmage for 2023!

Deb