If you are like me, you have been hooting and hollering about all the new viral “S—” different people say. I thought it was about time to give wrestling moms our due. I have so much material stay tuned for Part II.
It’s Friday night and I am in a Coralville, Iowa hotel room, a little weary from the four-hour drive from Chicago west on 88 and then even west-er on 80, past texting truck drivers and horizontal snow winds, miles of empty ice-dusted fields and about 1,000 signs for Subway. I just finished putting six turkey, cheese and spinach sandwiches I made this morning and about a gallon of Vitamin Water in the small humming refrigerator for Colin to eat tomorrow after the weigh-ins for the Iowa City West quad against Apple Valley and Marmion.
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Do you pride yourself in being heavily involved in your child’s activities? Do you feel that your children are gifted with superior abilities in sports and/or the performing arts? Are you, without question, your child’s biggest cheerleader? Will you go above and beyond to make sure that your child can achieve his or her dreams? Have you and your friends bonded over a shared passion for your children’s activities?
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As wrestling parents we all make hard choices. My children, especially Sam, have been given amazing opportunities because of wrestling. I would like to be there as they take advantage of those things, but it’s not always possible.
See for yourself in this video why being on this team with this coach is an extraordinary experience for the young men on the team, including all three of my sons. Coach Powell talks about the coaches, the Oak Park-River Forest High School Huskies wrestling team, recent 2010 grad Charlie Johnson, and how any man can be extraordinary. Listen to senior Brian Toldeo talk about how wrestling changed his life. Watch Chris Ellis embrace Coach Powell. And maybe you can understand why it is about much more than wrestling.
The truth is many men need to step up to their responsibilities. It is not a class issue, a race issue or even a generational issue. It is a human rights issue.
Today my oldest son forwarded me an email from the head of a much bigger household. Barack Obama, himself raised by a single mother in the absence of a father, writing from the White House.
For a few years when the boys were small I went out to eat on Mother’s Day with them, paid the hefty brunch prices and basked in the boys’ adoration, even if they did keep asking the waiter to refill the bread basket so many times he was deeply annoyed. I felt as a single [...]
You would think that good sportsmanship is a given, that as parents we are old enough to know better than to boo a young wrestler, a coach or a team. We want to teach our kids to be respectful, play fair, respect the referees and the opponents. After all, every match begins with a handshake between the opponents. And it is supposed to end with a handshake to the opposing team’s coach. It doesn’t always work the way it should. So here are 10 Commandments for Wrestling Moms (and Dads) to help you be a better fan.
From where I was now standing , I could see Colin unconscious, completely immobile, out. In my mind’s eye, in that future scary place I go to and have gone to since they were daredevil toddlers, I saw him paralyzed. Forever. I saw him in a wheelchair, 30 years old. I saw me pushing him, I saw his life changed from this very second. But it was just a bad thought. It did not come true.
I have read a lot of comments about the new book, “Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother.” And this is what I think. It takes a big parent to admit her reach is limited. It takes a realistic mother to understand that it is not optimal to have your influence over your child be so enormous that it shapes everything the child does or hopes to become. I do my best. I strongly suggest. I mandate. I insist. But I do not believe parenting is meant to be a battle. And the battle hymn we sing as parents should be a song that is inspirational, uplifting and not just noise in the background.
Do you know how much your child weighs down to the ounce? Do you avoid making eye contact with your child after he or she loses a match until your child approaches you? Do you find yourself wearing the school colors every day whether or not you are attending a meet or tournament?
Then you're a WMD. A Wrestling Mom or Dad.
And we'd love to hear your stories. Submit a guest column, a few photos, videos, or comments and we will publish them on the site.
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