Category: Sports
Posted by Stacey DuFord on Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 9:08 AMAre you a sports mom, too?
Have I told you I'm a skating mom? Or, Motherskater. (Yes, like a similar word, "Motherskater" has many practical applications, and I usually find myself mumbling it under my breath as I write yet another check to keep my daughter active in this sport).
I mention this for two reasons: one is because I've realized I've actually been a Stage Mom longer than I thought. There is nothing more Stage Mom-like than the mother of a figure skater Two, well, I'm taking advantage of National Novel Writing Month to write a book about being a Motherskater and I'm already slacking off, so I could use someone to hold me accountable.
Why a book? I've done some looking around and there are lots of books with great advice for parents who have athletic children and books about how we, as a nation, are becoming obsessed with turning our children into the next Tiger Woods ("101 Ways to Be a Terrific Sports Parent: Making Athletics a Positive Experience for Your Child" by Joel Fish and Susan Magee, "Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children" by Tom Farrey), but there is nothing for the parent who gets sucked in, caught up in the machine, then forced to stay because her kid loves it so much. You could say it's a cautionary tale.
Is it hypocritical of me to be working on this book while ordering costume pieces off the Internet and ramping up my daughter's coaching so she has every advantage at the Ice Show audition later this month? Absolutely. That hypocrisy will be addressed in Chapter Four.
I'd love to hear your sports mom stories! Comment here.
