Day 18 - Am I One Those Angry Soccer Parents?

My little Man was playing soccer again tonight and lagging a little behind, not showing much enthusiasm so I urged him on, politely and positively at first and then when he was knocked down by a kid larger than him I called out for some help from the referee. As I said it I knew I shouldn't have since it's a casual and low pressure environment, and besides its part of the game. One of the other parents came over and made a joke, bandaiding my pride and I cooled down from then on in.

What makes us so aggressive to see our kids do well and win, apart from our biological aggressiveness? We're human and as I've said before really just cavemen/women, but get a bunch of parents together watching their kids play a competitive sport and interesting things happen. I don't want to be one of those overly aggressive, flag waving Fathers that cheers and boasts for his child and acts like a moron - I really know I won't be but with your little Man on the field sometimes its hard to just sit there.

Thats sort of the beauty of parenthood - you can't control your children and motivate them with a stick unless you want a bully or worse for a child - its best to watch, on the sidelines and give them encouragement, praise and guidance and then when its all done give them a big hug and tell them they did great (ice cream doesn't hurt either).

I find that when I'm too tough on my employees, my spouse or myself, I think back to my usual way of guiding my children and it puts it all in perspective.

---

I cut a few corners on the workout tonight as it was a late game, but really concentrated on the jumping side kick - what a workout. Stretching is going well too - I'm doing a bunch in the morning(super tight) and also before I go to bed.

See you soon.

Day 5 - Milestones

My eldest son lost his first tooth today - he was scared at first and then excited that the mysterious tooth fairy would visit him tonight.

Right now he's running around full of energy wondering what he's going to do with the money that he gets in exchange for a tooth. I'm wondering how much I'm going to give him, but more importantly what my actions will teach him.

I'm often looking for object lessons, ways I can help my kids learn, this is good but I wonder if I'm sheltering them from something by not just going with it more often. They have set up donation jars for those less fortunate, do some limited chores and are really good kids, but what will they do if I let them decide more what to do while I gently guide?

I think the tooth fairy will leave him a twenty and tell him to spend it on something fun and frivolous...We'll see what he does with it.


The workout was great today, I'm getting in a groove with the kicks and punches. Flexibility sucks but I can wait and the meditation feels really good - I found myself looking forward to it all day.

I'm starting to get that clean feeling like a pure glass of water, since I've been back on a good diet. I've been off it more than I realized.

I'll get my pics up tomorrow.

See you soon.