Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Midweek Musings: Satirizing Sports Parents, Desperate Housewives and Misplaced Political Priorities

Item #1: Satirizing Sports Parents

As a mom of three youth athletes, who spends way too much time driving (and complaining about driving) the kiddos around to practices and games, and as someone who coached her daughter’s soccer teams for two years, I feel as though I’ve earned the right to kvetch about youth sports mania.

I’m in the thick of it, my friends. And it's making me crazy.

So whenever I find something that takes on the insane youth sports climate -- particularly in a humorous fashion -- I want to send it to everyone I know.

That’s how I felt about this recent column by Lee Ostaszewski in the MetroWest Daily News. As he mocked people who live vicariously through your children (you know who you are), he wrote:

“. . . [W]hether you decide to coach or just stand on the sidelines ranting and swatting at imaginary bugs, the important thing is that your child knows you’re there to support and to embarrass them. It is especially important to embarrass them in front of their friends.

“Listen, they need to toughen up somehow. It isn’t going to happen playing video games. We must make sure our kids can take whatever life throws at them. And if that means excessively rooting for them to the point where they can’t show their face at school the next day, hey, I call that good parenting.”

Item #2: Desperate Housewives

As someone who vigorously extolled the virtues of the social satire found in season one and the beginning of season two of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” I feel compelled to say this about the last two, post-writers’ strike episodes that were aired: What the heck? It’s as though Lynette has been lobotomized. What have you done to her? I want the season one Lynette Scavo back.

Item #3: Misplaced Political Priorities

My new Mommy Track’d column this week takes on the ridiculous media spotlight on the one woman running for president and the women married to the other two men running for president and how media are focusing on trivial things, like hairstyles, clothing and recipes.

Bonus item: I’m no longer writing the Boston Mommy Blog. Instead, I’ve started writing a new parenting/lifestyle blog on the GateHouse Media, Wicked Local Parents web site. It’s called the Picket Fence Post. Visit me here.

1 comment:

Kirk Mango said...

Gweyn,

That #1 is funny. I like the inference in his satire.

Hey, I would love to have your input on the couple of recent articles I posted on my blog The Athletes Sports Experience: Making a Difference. The articles are:
Part 1: Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad?
Part 2: Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad?
Part 3: Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad?
AND
The Rise in Youth Sports Injuries

Any comments and/or suggestions for more information on a particular topic are welcome

Thanks

Best

Kirk Mango
Author: Becoming a True Champion