Over the Top

by Rebecca Einstein Schorr on 19 June 2012 @ 10:43 am

Come on…make it a shut-out!!

The fans were growing restless. The score was 9-0 with only a few minutes remaining

Shut them out — Shut them out — Shut them out!

And then…as if propelled by some mythical force, a forward snatched the ball and ran it down the field and scored.

Great. Just great. Could have been a shut-out til ya let that punk get the ball.

Did I mention that this was at my son’s soccer game on Sunday? The U5 game. Meaning…these kids are under 5 or turned 5 since February. And these were the comments of some dad, from the opposing team, who seemed as though he was in danger of bursting a vessel the way he was yelling?

The game was not a shut-out. But it didn’t matter. Or, rather, it shouldn’t matter. These are little kids. Running around the field. Sometimes even in the correct direction.

At the conclusion of the “tournament,” there was a pizza party and award ceremony. Not a formal ceremony, thank God. Because these are just little kids. And it shouldn’t be about awards. In fact, I wanted to skip out on the last part because I have a real problem with giving medals to kids who did nothing more than show up. To an activity to which they had committed.

Did I miss the memo? Since when do we reward the basic expected behaviour in our kids?

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Michelle 19 June 2012 @ 11:09 am at 11:09 am

Yesssssss….

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2 Rebecca Einstein Schorr 19 June 2012 @ 4:56 pm at 4:56 pm

Yes I missed the memo?

OR

Yes that’s how we do it now?

OR

Yes that is how it is supposed to be?

(And welcome to the conversation!!!)

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3 Michelle 19 June 2012 @ 5:00 pm at 5:00 pm

Yesssssssss is that kind of yes that you do (well, I do) when you realize that someone gets it.

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4 Rebecca Einstein Schorr 19 June 2012 @ 5:01 pm at 5:01 pm

But I don’t want to parent that way. I don’t want my kids to expect recognition for the bare minimum.

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5 Michelle 19 June 2012 @ 6:57 pm at 6:57 pm

Of course you don’t. Neither do I. That’s because we get it. Yessssssss, we get it 😉

6 Irene 19 June 2012 @ 12:41 pm at 12:41 pm

I remember when my kids were in elementary school there was an awards assembly each and every month. EVERY child got an award of some kind. (Can you imagine how the teachers managed that?) I may be exaggerating a bit, but I think that some kids got rewards for just breathing. Those kids are now the parents.

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7 Rebecca Einstein Schorr 19 June 2012 @ 4:54 pm at 4:54 pm

On Ben’s last day, they had a school-wide assembly to give out awards. “But not every kid got one,” observed Ben. “That’s because not every kid deserved one,” replied I. “That’s true,” he said.

And that was the end of that.

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8 Margot 19 June 2012 @ 11:23 pm at 11:23 pm

Oy. Just too much competition at everything. And it gets younger and younger.

Whatever happened to teaching little ones to do their best or outdo their own performance?

The light of my life has two left feet and mixes up her b’s and d’s. Regularly. Some people are late bloomers, but (I think) early competition can lead to early feelings of inadequacy that can’t be alleviated with any made up award that’s given out to everyone.

I think little kids are supposed to get a chance to be . . . . little.

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9 Rebecca Einstein Schorr 29 June 2012 @ 2:10 pm at 2:10 pm

I agree with everything. I really do.

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