Do you remember when I tried to play golf?
Well, as luck would have it… turns out I’m only 1/3 as bad at playing tennis as I am at golf, and slightly better than I am at bowling.
This comes with a great deal of relief to me, because had I seriously stunk at tennis today when I went to play with my girl friend, I would have had to join the likes of the unpopular kids in middle school. You see popularity and athletic ability go hand in hand, or so my 11 year old son disappointedly informed me today at the end of his basketball practice.
His basketball skills are about as honed as my bowling skills. Which really aren’t that bad thank you very much… provided I put those bumper thingies up to keep my ball from jumping across the adjacent lane and into the gutter.
Middle school can be hard on a kid’s sense of self-confidence and if you’re not naturally athletic by design, you won’t get noticed by the “hot” girls.
Wait. He wants a girlfriend? I don’t want to hear this… he is, after all, my baby and should be playing with duckies and rubber alligators shouldn’t he?
Once he pulled my fingers out of my ears and got me to stop repeating “la la la la” I found out there was a problem with another boy at school.
Some little snot nosed bully of a midget…(I’m sorry, did I just say that out loud?) was teasing my son this week, daunting him into thinking he shouldn’t come to the first practice because he sucked at basketball. I despise bullies, and am fighting the moma cat urge to go scratch his cold hearted little eyeballs out.
I mean, not really…
but uh…really.
It’s disheartening to me how vulnerable a child’s ego is at that age, and how harsh words can wound a fragile soul, causing such anguish and depression. I had the appropriate talk with Little Man about how there will always be bullies in life and how you can’t let them get you down or ruin your fun. I also whipped out the compassion card from my bag of Mommy wisdom and explained how that little boy might have a very difficult family life which ultimately causes him to behave with such a mean spirit, and that maybe we should just pray for him to be a nicer person. When all of that failed to convince him he should try at least one time to see if he liked it, I pulled rank and made him go to practice anyways. He ended up doing just fine, and I’d say plays just as well as the majority of the boys on the team.
Now promise me a couple of things:
1. If you are the parent of a bully …please for the love of God, talk to your child and make him stop! No one should have to go through a day fearful of getting picked on. It’s just not right. and..
2. If you see me stomping towards the basketball gym hissing to myself...keep an eye on me, and stop me if I start to swing.
On another note: I went and had my hair done today, in practice for the approaching wedding. She put lot’s of curls in it, and piled it high on top of my head. I sort of liked it, but it wasn’t really the essence of Suzanne. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing with it on the big day, but at least now I have a better idea.
I’m off to bed for now.
Say goodnight Suzanne.
