Today, being friday, means football practice and today A was going to try playing with the older group. He has been playing with younger ones as when he started after summer he had never played football. Anyways, lately he has been doing really well and we thought he could do with the challange of playing with the boys his age. He was very nervous when J´s group was finishing their practice and I did what I could to calm him down. Some might think Im being too soft but I can understand that he would be nervous to leave his known group so I asked him if he wanted to sit on my lap for a bit and I hugged him and talked to him about how I could understand his worry but it would be fine. We would be there cheering him on and I was sure as soon as they started playing he would be fine etc. When it was his turn I walked with him to the coach and from then onwards he was just fine. Some parents though....these are 6-9 year old and some parents were calling advice and waving from the side! One dad though made me feel sick to my stomach!

 

When it was time for the first water break I asked A how he was doing, he said he was enjoying it and when he was ready he ran off to the coach again. That´s when I see the dad next to me holding his son hard, lying on the floor, opening his waterbottle and pouring water all over the boy :O I have no idea what the boy had done to "deserve" this but I dont think there are any excuses for an adult to humiliate your child like that, infront of "friends" and other adults. It might have been due to the fact that the boy didnt take proper part in the exercises because another mum that was sitting on the other side of me asked this dad if his son was still alseep or something similar. The boy started crying and Im not sure but maybe the dad realised he did wrong but instead of apologizing he told the boy "come on, its only water" and pushed him off towards the coach. The rest of the practice the I could see the boy close to tears and he didnt really want to take part and I felt so bad for him. Sometimes he tried to join in but as soon as things didnt come his way he started crying and stepped off the pitch. The coach tried to get him to join but in the end there is a limit to the amount of time you can spend on one child when you have a whole "team" waiting for you. When they played a match at the end of the session the boy stayed in his corner and the dad went to get him and they left. Seriously, why would you do this to your child? When J didnt want to take part in her practice I let the coach try and when it didnt work I called her near me and asked what was wrong, it wouldnt cross my mind to humiliate her infront of everyone. It turned out she was missing her brother (according to her) so I explained that he was still here and that we were watching her and that she has to at least try doing the exercises. What´s wrong with listening to your child and try to find a solution instead of being mean? Wouldnt it be better for everyone if the child has a positive feeling for an activity than a negative?