Baseball Mom I’m Not

Husbandman’s out of town so I went to #1 son’s ballgame last night. I don’t usually go. Firstly, husbandman loves baseball and he enjoys providing parental coverage. Second off, I have a hard time thinking of things to say to the other parents. And last off, I get hideously nervous every time #1 son has to interact with the ball in any way, hitting or catching. The night turned out okay. I accidentally sat with some parents from the opposing team who had no interest in talking to me so I got to read an article about troubling gender dichotomies while watching some fairly impressive masculinity performances. #1 made a phenomenal catch in the outfield and got on base 3 times.
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Julie Anna said…
ha ha! you sound like me, my friend. I've found that the whole "talking to other parents" thing is very sport dependent, however. At second son's basketball games, I get stared at like I'm some freak of nature. I have no idea why, but they sense my apart-ness like skittery animals. One woman talked to me once after I cornered her because I was bored and she looked nice. Many of the parents went out for a smoke at half times...just outside the doors of the "sport and health" facility. Perhaps that has nothing to do with anything, just a judgemental observation on my part.

At first son's cross country and track events, however, it seemed I was in a group of like-minded souls and most of the parents engaged in friendly talk, separately and in groups. Are runners more friendly in general? Is it because it is more "individual" than team sport? Does it attract non-team players and those who do not fall into group mentality kinds of things? Are runners the outsiders? (As a former runner, I have to say that it is a mild form of self-torture and not for the faint of heart :) I am painting with very broad strokes, my friend. There are good folks everywhere, of course. And we can't pick our kids' sports interests. But this is my experience in this important matter, mostly tongue-in-cheek, as usual.
8:50 AM
LH said…
It could also be a seasonal thing. One year Q was on a team with really fun parents and we talked thru the game and remembered to cheer at appropriate points. The next season the parents only wanted to talk about the game and i got irked by their little "tips" to the kids. Everyone's a coach.
This season, the people are nice, but I'm unwilling to commit to 2 hour talks once the game gets going. I just can't commit...
10:46 AM
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