Your kid packed her bag four times tonight. Pinnies, right shoes, water bottle that doesn’t leak, spare hair ties from earlier losses. You watch her line them up, pull them out, put them back.
She’s trying to make the A team. You pretend to have an opinion about what goes in the bag, because you think it helps to have someone in the room.
Don’t talk about tryouts the night before tryouts.
Two seasons in, you learned this. The night before, you asked how she was feeling. She fell apart. Not because of tryouts. Because the question put a magnifying glass on the thing she was already thinking about.
Now you just sit in her room. You fold the towel that came out of the dryer. You ask if she wants you to braid her hair in the morning. You don’t ask how she’s feeling.
When she’s ready, she’ll tell you. Or she won’t. Both are fine.
The night before tryouts is for presence. Not pep talks. Presence. You sitting on the bed, being a person who is on her side, not asking anything of her.
If your kid is trying out for something tomorrow, here’s what works. Pack the bag together. Make a normal dinner. Do something dumb after dinner. Watch an episode you’ve already seen. Go to bed at the normal time.
Don’t ask how they’re feeling. Don’t tell them you believe in them. They know.
Just be in the same room. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������