Soccer Class Parents

So I need to get something off my chest. I really enjoy taking Christopher to soccer class every Saturday and I know that he loves going. However, there are parents that just irritate me each week. I've grouped these parents into types:

The Lazy Parent

The lazy parent brings siblings to the class and does not watch the sibling that is not in the class. When their toddler goes out on the field he/she leisurely follows the kid out their picks him up and brings him back. He/she is in no rush to get their barely walking toddler off the field where a bunch of 3 year olds are running around like a pack of dogs chasing a cat.

The Codling Parent

These parents really irritate me. These are the parents that have to sit on the side lines of the field because their child will not participate if they take five steps back and sit on the bench. Or they sit on their child's spot and the child sits on their lap between activities. They are distracting to the other kids and they are just letting their kids have control of the situation. We handle this by giving Christopher two options: you can play soccer on the field by yourself or you can sit with Mom/Dad on the bench and watch.

The Competitive Parent

These parents just make me laugh. When a dad is pushing his 2/3 year old daughter to run faster, kick harder and kicks the ball to her at full force. It's comical. These kids are 3. Stick to the basics, don't use your hands, kick the ball with your feet, etc.

The Pre-Occupied Parent

I think that these parents are almost more irritating than the coddling parent. They are so busy chatting with other parents they don't even notice that their child is: tangled in the goal net, picking up metal equipment and swinging it like a sword at other kids, pushing kids, taking kids balls, running around like a wild animal completely distracting the coach. I have the practice of allowing the coach to handle the behavior until Christopher's behavior is interrupting the class. For example, if the coach has to stop and address Christopher personally more than once for the same issue I will intervene. Last week one of these pre-occupied parents was so clueless to what her son was doing that when she looked up he was following instructions and she made a big deal praising how well he was listening, but not five minutes before he was on the other side of the gym doing the opposite the coach was asking.

Now, I'm not saying that we are perfect. I'd put us in the "too much stuff parent." I'm sure we irritate people by all the things we bring in, like a huge diaper bag, infant carrier, two coffee mugs even though we are probably 20 steps away from our car, and there is limited seating availability and walking room.

If there is one thing from this experience that I have learned first hand is how children can sense if they have control over the situation. I have never hesitated taking Christopher out of the class and giving him a time out in front of everyone. It wasn't fun at first, but I've learned to feel empowered by not caring what other's may think and I'm not going to modify our expectations of our children's behavior because I'm afraid what other's may think.