We went to Lucas’ lacrosse game this morning and I was treated to cold temperatures, wind, and Peter’s Mom. Top it all off with an over time loss and it turned into a not so good morning in my book. Spring sports are interesting, in and of themselves, because of the fickleness of the weather. Throw in whack-job parents and it wratchets it up to a whole new level.

I am all for cheering on your kid and the team but no one should ever be subjected to Peter’s mom (or grandma for that matter). Stan and I were sitting down in our chairs minding our own business, watching the game. Peter’s mom was standing directly behind us. Her voice was loud, shrieky and shrill. “GOOOOO Peter! GET INNNNNNN THERE PETER!! GET – THE – BALL PETER!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOO PETER!! RUN PETER!!!” Every time she yelled it sent jolts of electricity rippling through every nerve ending in my body. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Her mom’s (Peter’s grandma’s) voice was even worse. Her mom was right beside her and yelled just as loud but her voice had the added “benefit” of being raspy on top of being loud, shrieky and shrill. At one point the grandma said to the mom “You are SO loud. You get that from your father.” It took everything I had in me not to whip around and say “BOTH of you are obnoxiously loud.” Claire whispered to me at one point during the game “Mom, I thought you were loud at hockey games. She is SO much louder than you!” I love to cheer for the kids’ teams but I stick to “GO ROYALS, GO WARRIORS or GO WILDCATS!”

I don’t think I should know about one kid on the opposing team, especially one who wasn’t a particularly good player. I have to wonder if the mom’s excessive cheering was compensation for his lack of skills. The sad thing is Peter probably gets a lot of grief from his team mates not because of his lack of skills but because of his mom.

I do love to cheer and yell and get loud but I prefer to cheer on the entire team. I cheer on everyone for a few reasons. The first reason is because I believe it is better sportsmanship to cheer for everyone rather than single out one player (Unless they just scored a goal or made some other amazing play ~ then you have every reason and right to yell for that kid.) It is a team effort, not just the effort of one individual out there, to win or lose a game. All kids deserve to hear their team being cheered for and cheered on. The second reason is because my kids screw up and when they screw up they don’t need to have their names dragged through the mud by me. When Peter screwed up I noticed it much more than I would had his mom not been shrieking shrilly throughout the game. Maybe his mom’s shriek made me think he was a worse player than he was. Another reason I prefer to cheer the whole team on is because the kids can’t hear me cheering for them why waste my breath screaming their names? I would rather waste my breath on the entire team.

I left the cold, windy field quickly after the game ended. I was freezing. My eyes were battered from the wind and I had a massive headache from listening to Peter’s mom scream in my ear the whole game. I wanted to shake the crap out Peter’s mom as I left the field. I wanted to put my hands on her shoulders and just shake her until her teeth rattled but I didn’t do it for the love of my children…