Driving with my 11-year old son today, taking him to his weekly guitar lesson. We got to talking about our family cat.
Son: "I think I know why the cat doesn't really like me that much"
Me: "Oh yeah? Why is that?"
Son: "Well, when I was younger, I always thought it's tail was what you were supposed to pick them up by."
[long pause]
Son: "I finally figured out I was wrong."
[short pause]
Me and Son: (hysterical laughter)
Flipping channels tonight, I ran across PBS and a local interview show with a doctor from the Children's Hospital. The topic of the show is pretty simply and direct: In America today, we are facing the first generation of children who's life expectancy will be shorter than their parents.
That's pretty easy to grasp. Difficult to believe, but easy to grasp.
It's true. But most people are watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Because they just don't care.
Obesity is increasing due to fucked up diets. Obesity overwhelmingly leads to Diabetes. The rates of Diabetes are increasing at an increasing rate. That's bad. Anytime something "bad" is increasing at an increasing rate, that's worse than bad. That's criminal. Parents that shove fried shit in their kids' mouths should be fined. Parents that stuff the cabinets with Twinkees, Pop Tarts, and sugar-bloated colored water drinks, should be chained to a wheel that powers a generator. Parents that fill the refrigerator with Hot Pockets and Marie Calendar's fat-filled meals should be beaten in public.
Was I a bit over the top? Sorry. No, actually I'm not sorry. It's time for parents to do their job and stop blaming everyone else. If you're fat, that's one thing. But don't pass your failed self-control disaster onto your poor kids. That's no different than holding them down and blowing cigarette smoke in their face. It's a slow death sentence. But it doesn't just impact them, or their families, it impacts society. The more people who require medical help for issues that are caused by obesity drive up health care costs and that drives up insurance rates for all of the rest of us who eat right, get out and walk and at least TRY to keep our bodies healthy.
Shoving crap into their mouths is killing them. It's breaking our society. It's putting us behind other countries. It's wasting all of the hard work our great grandparents suffered through to make this a better place for their grandchildren's grandchildren. Shoving six hot pockets in your mouth isn't cute and it isn't macho. It's stupid as shit.
Nobody is asking you or anyone to live in a monestary or become a Vegan. Just use some common sense. Cut down the fat calories. Increase the better foods and drink better liquids. Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Monster, and Four Loco aren't worth a shit. If you need that you have more serious problems to look into. Same with 5 hour energy bullshit. If you need that you have an addiction and you need help. Eat right. Drink right. Exercise. And get more sleep. It's not rocket science. It's dirt simple. If you can't do that you're a fucking idiot. Maybe that's the real problem: too many fucking idiots.
Wake up. Look around. Look at what your kids are eating. Look at what they're surrounded by at school, at shopping centers, at parks, at friends houses, at the Laser tag place, and in your own home. It's as simple as this: If you really love your children, you'll do this. If you don't bother, you don't love your children. Period. End of story.
Last night our team lost 13-12 in OT. But it was a great game.
What made it great?
A note about the umpires: We typically have the same 5 or 6 officials at our field every week. But this week we had visiting officials from Umpire Heaven (a fictitious place I refer to as being where awesome umpires come from). These 2 guys knew the rule book cover to cover. I’ve never seen that. They applied the rules thoroughly, but without sacrificing the goal of the game: to have fun and compete. They took time to inspect the equipment for both teams before the game: bats, helmets, catcher’s gear, balls, even shoes. Never once showing any signs of nit-picky attitude or resentment. Their calls were clear and direct. When a player slid into home, the ump cleared the area with his entire being focused on the action in front of him. A plane could’ve crashed in the next field and exploded and this ump would not have missed the call. It was professionally done. Kudos!
I’m an assistant coach, so I spend a lot of time on the field with players and other coaches and officials. I absolutely love it when the atmosphere is positive and coaches joke with each other on both sides of the field. When coaches joke and laugh with officials. When coaches loan other teams a helping hand. It’s what the game is all about. And it rubs off on the kids. This is more true in the 9 to 12 year old range than younger or older kids. It’s a special transformational age range when they’re seeing beyond the casual attitude of T-ball and Minor leagues to the game itself and what it means. They start to understand the importance of how they work together and they see what the league above them does and it drives them to push themselves to be better, work harder and enjoy the good times more.
Best moments I’ve experienced yet:
I posted this on my Facebook page also, but I thought it might be suitable here as well…
Here's a few tips for baseball parents attending their children's games.
- Before shouting obscenities at the home plate umpire, watch the catcher's arm. The strike zone isn't just high-to-low, it's also inside the batter's box lines. If you see the catcher reach across or reach out, it was probably a ball. Get over it.
- If you don't like how your team is coached, coach it yourself. Otherwise: STFU
- If you don't like how your games are officiated, volunteer to be an umpire or ref. Otherwise: STFU
- Don't park near the field borders if it's even remotely possible to hit a ball out there (unless you don't care about your windshield).
- A great player is a "utility" player. Not someone who insists on playing one position all the time. It's definitely not someone who has a tantrum if they can't play that position even one time.
- Keep your kid's age in mind at all times. Don't stress them out about statistics and averages and performance when they're 9, 10 or 11. Encourage them. Support them. But make it fun. Remember FUN? You do remember FUN right?
- Baseball practice is not Daycare. Stick around. Show them you care.
- If you can't make it to the game or practice, call or text someone so they know.
Thank you!
