Calli's Corner: Mother's Day and Instant Replays

This biweekly column features life lessons and fresh perspectives on local sports from The Sports Report’s Calli Newberry.

I don’t follow college or professional football that closely. Whenever we would watch a game at my parents’ house on Sunday nights, I usually fell asleep by the fourth quarter. But from what I did see last season, I noticed a lot of touchdowns or great catches being called back after reviewing the play on camera.

The guy’s toe would be just barely out of bounds, he didn’t take two steps, he didn’t fully have possession of the ball – whatever it was – there always seemed to be a reason to call it back.

That was so frustrating to me. Like here’s this great play that’s no longer great just because a super close-up video of it could be reviewed 10 times to make sure it was in fact unsuccessful. I just feel like that takes away from some of the great moments of athleticism.

The thing is, however, I find myself doing the same thing with moments in my own life.

The number one thing people have said to me since Ellie was born is, “Enjoy it and take it all in, it goes fast.” And they’re not wrong. It’s hard to believe she’s already three months old.

I often find myself “taking it all in” by trying to capture her cute, and even ordinary, moments on video or by photo. This is nice and all, but sometimes I end up focusing more on finding my phone or getting the right shot more than just enjoying the moment. Or sometimes Ellie will stop doing whatever I was trying to capture because she gets distracted by the camera and it ruins the moment entirely.

Yes, it’s nice to be able to look back on photos and videos, and even better to be able to share them with friends and family, but some moments are better to simply be remembered rather than recorded.

There’s no evidence of most of my favorite moments with my mom. Like the one time we almost left her on the side of the road on our way to the track state finals. Or when we got an ice cream sandwich after a meet. Or when she politely said “excuse me” after accidentally cutting someone off at a stoplight on the way to a cross country meet.

There’s also no evidence of the countless team dinners she prepared, the pre-game prayers she said with me before I headed out the door, or the great conversations we've had while riding in the car.

And now she and I are making more memories going to events with Ellie.

I don't have a video of her maneuvering into the back seat to soothe my crying baby or of Ellie finding the one spot on my mom's shirt not covered by a burp cloth to spit up on. We get coffee instead of ice cream and our new favorite phrase is, "I'm with the press,” which is an inside joke we will now forever laugh at.

It's these little moments that make moms so great. Of course it's great to have photos and videos, and I'll continue storing up as many as I can, but I'm also learning to just sit and enjoy these little moments as well. There are just some things that can’t be captured and some that just don’t need to be. Sometimes it’s better to just be in the moment, taking it all in.

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For in-game updates and other news, follow Calli on Twitter @ newberry_calli

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