What Makes Me Mad

I don’t get mad too easily.  In fact, it’s pretty rare.  But it happened the other day at my son’s T-Ball game.  I’m not the coach because that’s a job that nobody can win at.  Parents can be intollerably…well, I just don’t want that.  Never the coach – always the helper.  So, I help the coach.  You get all kinds of kids in T-Ball, but I’ll try to categorize them:

The Ant-Counter.  This is the kid who is watching everything out there EXCEPT the game.  He’s interested in waving to his sister or seeing who brought their dog to the game or watching the birds swoop from tree to tree.  These are fun to watch because they don’t know anyone is watching, and they are just so innocent and authentic.

The Tryin’ Hard, but Not Cuttin’ It.  This is the kid who is taking it super serious, but is way out of his league – even in T-Ball.  It’s the kid who swings 30 times and never gets it anywhere.  Swing and a miss kid.  Now, you might not know the difference between this kid and the Ant Counter.  Here’s the difference: the Ant Counter doesn’t know he’s no good.  In fact, he doesn’t care.  The Tryin’ Hard, but Not Cuttin’ It kid cares way too much and can be inconsolably broken by their self-assumed failure.  Poor kid.  Don’t take it too seriously.  I’m betting this type of kid tends to be a first born.

Know It All Talented.  This is my kid.  He’s uber into it, and pretty good to match.  They watch baseball on TV and know the names of teams and maybe even which team is in which division.  They understand where to send the ball if it’s hit to them, and if it’s not hit to them, they know exactly where they should go to back someone up.  They get it.  The game clicks for them.  This type of kid can be a bit annoying because they know it all and don’t have a real teachable spirit.  They also want to show off all they know.  They’re the kid that you find yourself arguing with, but didn’t know how you got into the argument.

There are two of the third kind on my son’s team.  Alex and a kid named Ben.  Here’s where I got mad.  Don’t worry it wasn’t with the kid, Ben; it was with his dad.  Ben was all excited the other day, and of course, being the kind of kid he is…told me all about it.  “My dad said that if I hit it to the outfield he’ll take me to Captain Sundae.  And if I get two hits there, I’ll get a medium.  And if I get all three to the outfield, he’ll get me a large.”

I got a little mad, and that little mad turned into more mad as the kid kept coming up to bat.  He’s a good little hitter, but he got up there and kept trying to crush the ball.  He missed and missed and missed all because he was trying to get that ice cream from his dad.  And get this: his dad wasn’t even there.  Now, I don’t expect all parents to make it to games, but don’t do that to your kid when you can’t be there to cheer him on.

When he got up to bat the first time and just dribbled a ball back to the pitcher I was right by first base and encouraged him for his hit.  He was about to cry because he didn’t get his big hit and ice cream.  Ticked me off to no end.

We do this to people in church, too, sometimes.  We have these huge expectations for others…unfair expectations.  And when people can’t meet up to them, they feel like failures.  Perfection is unattainable, but we make it feel like it’s not.  I’m going to put that on  my list of things NOT to do.

After the game I took Alex to Captain Sundae.