Musings of a non-athletic sports mom

I think the most important thing to note from my title is the "non-athletic" part... It's not an exaggeration. I didn't play one single sport as a kid. Unless baton lessons count. Which I'm pretty sure does not.

I can work out (run, walk, and lift weights... but often not without hurting myself by running into equipment, etc.), and I can play a mean game of ping pong.

But as my high school chemistry teacher told me, there's NOTHING wrong with belonging to the other side of the building!

So, as a mom who has kids who play sports, I've got some observations. Those who play(ed) sports might not agree with one single point. But that's okay. They can get their own blog.

These are not in any order of significance. They're just in the order that they came in my head.

1. Is it really bad for kids to cry? I'm not talking about sniveling, sobbing messes, but if a kid is really upset, why can't he cry? Well, I think that until I see a 14-year-old who just lost a wrestling match crying... then I think that maybe teaching them not to cry when they lose isn't such a bad thing!

2. It's not the end of the world if a kid loses. Any sport. Any time. ESPECIALLY if they did their best. Come on, it's not like the scouts are going to be there to watch them when they're 7 for a college scholarship!! In fact...

3. I think it's important for a kid to learn how to lose. AND win. By a lot. And by a little. By that, I mean that it's important for kids to know that no matter how good (bad) they are, there's ALWAYS going to be someone out there better (worse) than they are. And...

4. As long as a kid ENJOYS something and is committed to doing his/her best, it doesn't matter the score. (I hear the gasps now!!!)

5. Medals, plaques, and trophies are very important to kids. Like, maybe more so than actually winning. We've finally figured that out with Bub.

6. Parents need to butt out. It's a game! And they're KIDS!!! We saw some parents go overboard the other day. And a friend was telling me some stories about "state" tournaments where they actually had to stop matches because parents were fist-fighting out on the floor. Seriously, people! It's a game! And they're KIDS!!!


7. I think the clearest indicator that a parent is the non-athletic type versus an athlete (especially in the sport you might be watching) is the type of yelling they do for the kid. I tend to just yell, "Go, Bub! Yeah, Bub! Go, Bub! Yeah, Bub!" While Don will yell such things as "Come on, Bub! Go for the single leg choky thing!" Well, that's not EXACTLY what he says... if I knew what he was saying EXACTLY, I would say it, too, so I wouldn't look so much like a non-athletic sports mom!

8. In the midst of a sporting event, the child athlete in question does NOT appreciate his/her mother telling him/her how cute they are! I don't know why!!! Last year, Sis took us all by surprise when she decided to play basketball (she found out they were giving away trophies... see #5 above!), and she was quite good at it! For the most part, she's more like me in that she's more into artsy stuff rather than sports, but basketball (and swimming) seems to be her thing! I would crack up as she would run by dribbling, though, mostly from the pure shock of it all! She would hear me and give me a dirty look as she ran by. Well, EXCUSE ME for thinking you're so adorable, that's all!

9. At the end of the day (or game), it REALLY doesn't matter how much I don't know about whatever sport I'm watching. As long as I'm there cheering the kids on, that's all they really care about!

*Hope you've enjoyed the interspersed wrestling pics of Bub!!! And all his nemeses! Yup... he has his share of nemeses!