I think many parents in this country are becoming dangerously unhinged in gross and subtle ways about their children's involvement in sports. Yesterday evening, Sunday, I took my troops to the pool at the YMCA where we belong so that they could frolic and splash in the water until 7:00 pm. When we arrived at the pool there was a family already there - a girl who looked to be about 14 and her brother who was probably about 10 or eleven. The two of them were swimming lap after lap while they parents walked along the side of the pool giving them instructions and correcting their strokes. At one point the two kids were allowed to take a break and they spent their time watching my kids splash around doing belly flops and cannonballs.
The brother and sister looked at my kids with such longing as if they wanted nothing more than to play for awhile rather than swim laps. Later, after they had left, I asked the lifeguard about them. He said that the kids were at the pool every evening doing laps for an hour or longer and that he, too, had noticed them looking enviously at my kids.
I don't believe that this couple are bad parents. Despite the fact that they left the pool before we did, my children and I exited the building before they did. We were sitting in our vehicle when they came out of the building and the mother had her arm around the daughter and the father and son were walking ahead of them laughing and talking. I think they are a close knit loving family. I do wonder, though, about, the wisdom of making your children swim laps for an hour every evening with the hope that they will win races, collect trophies and, perhaps, secure scholarships to schools with prestigious swim programs.
Texas high school football, however, is an example of collective insanity. Shooting a coach!!
I think many parents in this country are becoming dangerously unhinged in gross and subtle ways about their children's involvement in sports. Yesterday evening, Sunday, I took my troops to the pool at the YMCA where we belong so that they could frolic and splash in the water until 7:00 pm. When we arrived at the pool there was a family already there - a girl who looked to be about 14 and her brother who was probably about 10 or eleven. The two of them were swimming lap after lap while they parents walked along the side of the pool giving them instructions and correcting their strokes. At one point the two kids were allowed to take a break and they spent their time watching my kids splash around doing belly flops and cannonballs.
The brother and sister looked at my kids with such longing as if they wanted nothing more than to play for awhile rather than swim laps. Later, after they had left, I asked the lifeguard about them. He said that the kids were at the pool every evening doing laps for an hour or longer and that he, too, had noticed them looking enviously at my kids.
I don't believe that this couple are bad parents. Despite the fact that they left the pool before we did, my children and I exited the building before they did. We were sitting in our vehicle when they came out of the building and the mother had her arm around the daughter and the father and son were walking ahead of them laughing and talking. I think they are a close knit loving family. I do wonder, though, about, the wisdom of making your children swim laps for an hour every evening with the hope that they will win races, collect trophies and, perhaps, secure scholarships to schools with prestigious swim programs.
Texas high school football, however, is an example of collective insanity. Shooting a coach!!