It’s soccer season again. The Youngest Son (YS) is back in the game and on a team with the same coach we had in the spring. Now, you may recall that I wasn’t pleased when the coach punished the YS for our late arrival to a practice when it wasn’t the YS’s fault that we were late. To quickly rehash, I had to work late that day and then we were stuck in traffic on the way to the field. And I jumped to the YS’s defense when the coach punished him because the YS had been ready for hours and was even waiting on the front steps when I arrived to get him that evening—his chin resting in his hand, his elbow resting on his soccer ball.
How can you punish such a cute kid? Or allow someone else to punish him? I couldn’t stand for it and I didn’t.
Now, had the reason for punishment been something that the YS had done or had control over, such as goofing around or acting up during practice, I would stand behind the coach. And though, I wasn’t initially thrilled that we were back on this guy’s team, I decided that I would make the best of it and start fresh with a clean slate.
We’ve had one practice (missed the first, but made it to the second practice) and there’s already been a confrontation of sorts involving me quietly knitting in my truck and the coach’s girlfriend shouting rules at me through the window. She was actually shouting, and spitting while she spoke. I didn’t respond, as I was too stunned to do anything more than protect my knitting project from her saliva. And yeah, you can believe that I was thinking, “Say it, don’t spray it!”
The rules include a no goofing around policy, which I’m perfectly fine with, and a no confronting the coach on the field rule, which I’m not so sure that I can comply with. Not that I’m looking for confrontation, mind you—I just don’t know if I can allow the YS to be treated unfairly in my presence. Now, I’m not sure if the other parents were privy to such treatment, but I decided that it doesn’t matter.
She’s not the coach, so I’m going to dismiss the incident as though it didn’t happen. I’m bound and determined to have a clean slate this year.
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