Dribble and Dunk: OREO cookies & new adventures

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. Keep reading to learn more about how we created memorable family moments with basketball practice and OREO cookies. #OREOSuperDunk #OREODunkChallenge #CollectiveBias

You know what I love about Mahayla’s age? This is the time to try anything and every thing. It’s the beginning of figuring out their passions in life. Will they love soccer or theater, wood shop or painting, science, spelling bees, and basketball?

We follow a 1-season rule with Hayla when it comes to sports and activities. If it ends up being something she doesn’t like, she doesn’t have to do it again, but she WILL be a good team player and stick it out for the entire season.

To me, the most important thing she’s learning at this level is to respect her coach and be responsible for her part on the team. Skills, winning, and everything else has to come second.

Back in December, Hayla started basketball practice with other first and second grade girls in our school district. As expected, she is the tiniest member of the team. But, it didn’t really seem to bother her as she giggled and chased runaway basketballs across the gym floor and gleefully ran sprints and drills.

And a few weeks later, we had our first game – aka, reality check.

The lax attitude of practice was replaced by focus and tenacity. Most of the girls on our team quickly realized the other team wasn’t messing around.  Hayla wasn’t paying attention to the faster-paced game and was barely able to keep up with what was going on, let alone  handle the ball. We don’t keep score at this level so there’s no winning or losing . . . but our team got pummeled.

Hayla’s frustration over the game resulted in some tough love talk on the car ride home. The reality is, she is the smallest girl on the team. Can we change that? Nope. But what we CAN do is make sure we’re prepared for the next game and figure out how to use her tiny stature to her advantage. I put in an SOS call to my younger sister, who also played basketball in school, to help.

For the next week, my sister, Josh, and I worked with Hayla on practicing basketball basics, like dribbing, bounce passes, defense positions, and being a good team player. (Oh yes, even as a wheelchair mom, I did as much as I could to help with practicing!) And with the weather in the NorthEast being cold and dreary lately, we practiced inside in the kitchen. Hayla giggled as I’d catch the ball on my wheels when trying to dribble, or when my sister would show her how to spin and pivot to keep the ball away. Josh even stood on a chair and stretched out his arms to make a basketball net for Hayla to practice shooting.

After spinning and jumping around in the kitchen, we traded in our dribbling for another slam dunk: OREO cookies and a cold glass of milk. Double Stuf are Josh and Hayla’s favorite and I’m a fan of the Golden ones, so I picked up both on sale at Redner’s Markets this week.

We kept the basketball conversation going while we cooled down with our snack, to make sure the info was really sinking in.

Dribble, do not run down the court with the ball. Pay attention to where the ball is. Keep your hands up while playing defense. Try to get open when your team is in control of the ball. 

And then there’s the basics of any sport: The rules I think are most crucial that she learn.

Respect your coach. Respect your team. Have fun. Try your best. Don’t be afraid to get back up. Be a kind winner. Be a courteous loser. Pay attention, for crying out loud. 

At our next game, Hayla’s improvement was so awesome to watch. She was still the smallest player on the court, but instead of being lost and barely keeping up with the rest of the girls, she was being a team player. And even without keeping score, for those of us on team parenting, it was an epic win!

How Do YOU Dunk? 

OREO cookies are a slam dunk in our household when paired with quality family time and memory making . . . even if it means days and days of indoor basketball practice in my kitchen. How do you dunk yours? Upload a photo or video of your dunking skills to Twitter or Instagram for a chance to win some great prizes from the #OREODunkSweepstakes. Find more info here.