Sometimes, you just have to take time

We all know sports information directors have a crazy, busy, hectic life. It doesn't matter the time of year, there is ALWAYS something to do and work on.

For me, life has become increasingly busy on Mondays. Mondays were bad to begin with thanks to weekly conference player of the week honors and awards day, but now that I'm the conference SID, it is even more so.

But I'm not here to expound about the hours we SIDs work or about the endless tasks that seem to roll our away.

Nope. Not tonight.

Tonight, I'm here to share with you something that I did. Nothing great or profound, at least not to me. But I pray it was meaningful to my kids, especially my son.

Here's the scene: It's about an hour after dinner and I'm working away on the laptop trying to get my releases done so it won't be a real late night. Jayson comes and asks if we could throw baseball.

At first, I said, "Son, I can't. I'm very busy. Mondays are very hectic for me right now, and I've got to get this work done."

He turned and went back to the living room to watch TV.

And a very sinking feeling came over me. I thought, "What in the world did I just say to my son? I just told him my work is more important than spending time with him."

Not surprisingly, the song "Cat in the Cradle" started playing in my head over and over and over.

Right then and there, I said to myself, "No. This is not going to happen."

So, I called to my son, "Jayson, get your glove. We'll go throw right after I finish this story."

Five minutes later, we were in the backyard throwing baseball until the sun went down and we couldn't see the ball anymore while Haylee entertained herself on the trampoline.

Then we came back into the house, kids got ready for bed and I went back to work. I was still able to finish everything that needed to be done by 9 p.m.

Sometimes, you just to have to take time, step away from the laptop and enjoy life ... especially with your kids. They won't be here for very long. Enjoy them while you can.