wordsimageslife
an exploration of life as a parent & designer

Always Support Your Kid

This entry is to only show that the world is a far from perfect place. Today during t-ball, I witnessed a parent lashing out verbally at her special needs son because he got thrown out at first base. First, let us remember that these kids are only five and six-years old. I mean this woman was screaming at the kid and threatening to take him off the team, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was absolutely stunned. I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to just scream at that woman that she needed to treat her son a hell of a lot better than she was. But I certainly couldn't do that in front of my team, they wouldn't necessarily understand why I was yelling at an opposing player's mother, and many questions would arise.

To make matters worse for this kid, he has a twin brother who appears to be a 'normal' kid and plays ball really well. So obviously he must be compared everyday to that brother who fits in and does things like other kids, while he does things his own way. Anyhow, this kid came up to bat again in the third inning. One part of me wanted me to tell my team to let him get a hit, not really hard in t-ball, but I decided against that. So, he come up to bat, his coaches helping him swing, he makes contact and the ball goes in between the pitcher and third base, toward the shortstop, a slow roller. This kid is walking toward first (for some reason he doesn't run) and gets to the base before the throw. I start telling him, as loud as possible, what a good job he did and actually walk over and ask him for a high-five. I tell my first baseman to tell the kid that he did a good job and I make sure he knows to go to second when the next batter hits the ball. Through all of this, I swear his mother said nothing. I was outraged but still, couldn't say a word.

This whole incident made me think how lucky I am that both our kids don't have any special needs, other than the normal ones like love, support and caring. The things any parent should be capable of giving. I'm not saying one should never yell at their kids but I would certainly not scream at my daughter if she got thrown out at first base in a t-ball game. First, it's just a game and we don't keep score, and the kids are there to learn the very basics of baseball. I cannot fathom treating anyone the way that mother chose to treat her son. She's obviously lost and I can only pray that she finds her way. As for him, I hope that he can find ways in this life to survive and grow beyond the lack of love and support that he faces from her.

And tomorrow, well today, is Mother's Day.

(Happy MD to Karen and my Mom. And all the Mom's who happen to read this posting)

Posted by robdesign at May 9, 2004 12:51 AM