It used to be that if you were an ultra-competitive sports mom, I was probably the sports mom you hated.
Never taking any of it seriously- they’re kids.
Cheering for any child who did something well, no matter which team they were on.
Seeing it all as a learning experience for my kids.
Very laid-back about it all.
And I haven’t lost all of that.
I still know they’re kids, I’ll still cheer for any child.
But all of a sudden, I found myself becoming what annoys me.
I’m LOUD.
I guess it was being married to a coach for so many years that taught me that I shouldn’t be loud: I learned that you do not coach from the sidelines as a parent.
Cheer, but leave the coaching to the actual coaches.
Which sometimes led me to muttering things under my breath, which probably made me look like I was talking to myself. But I didn’t call it out.
And then last week, I found myself yelling out all sorts of directions to my child at his game.
I want him to do his best.
I daresay I even want him to win.
If we’re spending all this time out at the ball fields for practice and games, something should come of it.
And then I realize that I’m starting to think like the parents who’ve always annoyed me during games.
They’re just kids.
The coaches are volunteers.
The refs/umpires aren’t perfect.
It’s just a game.
It’s supposed to be fun.
And since I don’t let my boys use “But everyone else is doing it” as an excuse for anything, it can’t be mine, either.
We have three games we have to go to this week. I think I might have to get a big pretzel to snack on and put myself in time out.