Now that I have a child that is at the ripe old age of 8 (or almost 8), I have seen more things than I really care to...but not out of kids, out of PARENTS!! I am completely horrified by some of the craziness that goes on! For starters, when Forrest was in Kindergarten, there was a child in his class that was not allowed to sit down during circle time because he would (are you ready for this??) FALL ASLEEP!! Okay people, they are FIVE YEARS OLD!! What the heck are you doing that your five year old is staying up so late that the teacher can't allow him to sit because he can't stay awake? That is nuts! On top of that, I continuallly get notes from the teachers (this began in Kindergarten, and has continued through second grade) stating that we need to be sure that our children complete their homework. Okay, maybe it's just me, but at this point, Forrest has almost finished second grade, and there is just NOT that much homework! There has been more each year, but let's be realistic-if my child can finish his entire week's worth of homework in one night (sometimes two), then it can't possibly take so much of your time that you just can't get it done! What kind of parenting is this?? As bothered as I am by this, NOTHING prepared me for the start of baseball season...
So here we were, gearing up for the spring season. My husband has volunteered to coach Forrest's team this season, so we'd been in it up to our eyeballs for several weeks before the other parents ever got involved. It is the Saturday before the very first game (which is Thursday), and we've been practicing for almost a month at this point. I get a phone call from a mom of one of the boys on our team. Apparently, she didn't realize that another boy was on the team, and that she can't seem to get along with that particular boy's MOTHER. Mind you, the BOYS aren't the ones with the issue, it's the moms. Let's grow up just a little please! We're all adults here, right? So anyway, it's just a few days before our first game, and she is planning on PULLING HER SON FROM THE TEAM because of this! She tells me that she is going to call the guy in charge of the whole league and discuss it with him, and that she'll let me know. She never bothered to call me back, nor did she send her son to practice the next day when we were distributing uniforms. I assumed that he wasn't going to be playing with us, but I emailed her for good measure, and as a courtesy. She responded to say that they hadn't decided exactly what they were going to do, but that she would let me know. Long story, but I didn't hear anything until the day of the game, when she told me that her son would be playing, but she just wouldn't come to any of the games. So now, he's going to play, but he has no uniform...
I got there as quickly as possible, but I was late for the game. Apparently, her husband got bent out of shape because Chris wouldn't put their child in the game (because he wasn't dressed) and got up in my husband's face... NOT a good thing! Well since then, they haven't sent their kid to half of the practices, didn't bring snacks on their assigned night to do it, and have missed most of the games. So why did I bother to pursue this? Why didn't I just shut my fat mouth and let them pull him from the team?? MY life would have been better, that's for sure! What kind of parents are they? How are you teaching your child any level of committment when you sign them up for a sport, but don't have him attend practices and games? And what kind of example are you setting when you are too childish to behave like an adult with the other parents?
But that's not the ONLY thing that has gone on this season... We have a group of three or four parents (crazy lady mentioned above included) that stand together at the outfield fence "discussing" things. (So she came to the games after all...) It is ugliness all over the place. I can stand in the dugout and see it in their body language. I almost had to go marching across the field during one game and have words. One of the people by the fence (a GIRLFRIEND of one of the dads-not a mom) was yelling at the coaches and a child on the team-who by the way is only six years old. I was so mad!! This is not the major leagues! These kids are not being scouted! They are learning the fundamentals of baseball, and hopefully having some fun in the mean time. It's not about winning the games right now. Sure, everyone wants to win, but if they don't, who cares??
So I swear that if I hear anything else coming from some poorly behaved parents, I'm dragging out Achmed the Dead Terrorist (if you haven't seen Jeff Dunham, you need to pull it up on YouTube). I've even had to put him as my profile pic on Facebook for a while. Maybe it will only be there until baseball season is over, maybe not...
SILENCE!! I KILL you!
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