Vicarious cheering?

Many people who don't have children living with them look at today's stay-at-homers, or even those who work outside the home and think that all this over-parenting is a way to vicariously live through their children's accomplishments.

I may have been guilty of such things (as evidenced by years of over the top birthday celebrations), but I assure you this weekend is proof positive that I do not live through my daughter!

We were at a cheer competition in Wildwood, NJ and I hated pretty much every minute of it. Here is a Reader's Digest style rundown of the weekends low points.

  • Hotel: so gross that my husband LITERALLY refused to sleep there! He surfed the net all night long.
  • Hotel: was paid for through the competition organization and was a complete rip off! I will NEVER book through them again!!! The hotel was $50 cheaper online, but because the coaches were decorating the girl's doors, I felt like we had to room there. Next year the three signs on our door are an honor C will have to forgo.
  • Hotel: besides gross room, pool was disappointing, the window opened all the way with a the view of the ocean but about 3 feet from the window were huge power lines. 
  • Hotel: rude staff
  • Hotel: room next to elevator. Glad I had Ambien.
  • Coaches: Rude on multiple occasions - who moves someone else's purse and then takes her seat while everyone is the buffet???
  • Coaches: Never mentioned the two girls who were left out of the party when giving out awards. 
  • Coaches: Clearly favor some girls when they described the girl
  • Coaches: Got so bombed that the first thing my daughter (13) said to me the next morning was "Ma, did you see how drunk Mrs. XYZ was last night!"
There were other things that turned me off: some of the girls were being rather catty (but what do you expect from 12 year olds?), others snuck out of the hotel and went to the boardwalk until they got caught.  One of the girls was practicing when she shouldn't have been and hurt her arm just a few minutes before they were supposed to go on. They didn't have a chance to change things around. Apparently this girl "cries injury" a fair amount, leaving the team in the lurch. The coaches didn't even consider having the left-out girls there as a plan B in case of such last minute needs. The absent girl caused a domino effect and the girl who she was supposed to be supporting fell during the routine.

After that all hell broke loose. One girl yelled at the injured girl. The injured girl's Mom yelled at the girl who yelled at her daughter. It was quite the mess (I didn't witness it, but this distracted the girls even more).

Desperately seeking good sportsmanship!

Glad this year's cheer season is over.  I do live vicariously through my kids (I also love to live through the stories my single friends tell about dating and my working friends tell about their jobs....). I'm not looking forward to next year's cheer season. Does time really heal all wounds?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New decade new post

It's the new decade and I'm already a little unsure about its start. N bonked his head and we ended up in the ER for a STAPLE. It was pretty inhumane - but much faster than stitches. I am directly dreading when it gets pulled out on Saturday! Then this morning the alarm didn't wake us, not because I didn't set it, but because I didn't check the volume level and of course it was silent. Everyone got to school as close to on time as to not call it tardy, but N needs a few minutes in the morning to get his act together if he is going to finish his morning work on time. I am pretty sure his teacher thinks I am a flake of a Mom who can't get her kid to school on time! Flake or not, I spent most of the weekend with N (I brought him to see my Dad, C stayed here for a birthday party and some quality Daddy time). He had a great weekend, despite the ER visit. N loved that I let him run wild where I never thought I would. In a pinch for some kid fun on a cold day? ...
Read more

Why I'm Voting for Barry Walker

Image
A long time ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away... ... I ran for a School Board. It is not a position to take lightly or to vote for "just anyone".  You've seen the signs... Barry Walker is running a tough, but honest campaign. It's not easy when your main opponent is an incumbent with strong political ties and a tendency to play by his own rules. In fact when I ran against him years ago, he used the Middle School directory to solicit votes. As an attorney and a board member - or even as a parent who can read - he should have known that this was verboten , since a "not for solicitation" clause is printed on all school directories. Misuse discourages families from including their information in the future.  As the saying goes, "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission." Maybe I'm jealous? Since I wrote the elementary school's directory and had every single email on my computer, I was tempted to do the same - it would have take...
Read more

What not to say....

My good friend posted on Facebook yesterday that one of her kids' teachers said, " Ok. You all need to stop talking now. I hate this class already." As of now she has 20 comments. Several comments were negative towards tenure (the program where teachers who have worked for 3 years in their position get a "job for life" and it is nearly impossible to fire them). I certainly understand resentment towards tenure. However, I also understand the comments - several left by teachers - saying that this isn't indicative of how the vast majority of teachers feel or teach. Some, like me, begged her to contact the school (I said she should bring it higher, to the Assistant Superintendent). She said her kid didn't want her to. What would have I done? I would have called. Immediately! It isn't in my nature to wait and see. I'm hot headed and I just can't help myself.  Would that have been in the best interest of my child? Probably not. It would be...
Read more