Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bad Sport

Today my older monkey tells me that her teacher wants to call me. That is NEVER a good thing.

It's because my monkey was a bad sport today :( She was playing kickball and a boy grabbed her by her shirt and got her out. So she went in the corner and started crying :( She HATES to LOSE! And then the kids told the teacher.

I relayed this story to the husband and told him to talk to her about being a good sport. His response...

"Why?"

Other gems included "It's NEVER a good game if you lose", which was in response to my telling him that she needs to be taught to say good game when she loses.

UGH!!!

At least he said he'd talk to her about not crying when she loses.

I guess it's because he is so competitive and always played to WIN (he was on the Varsity football team as a Freshman in high school).

Men (at least my man) can be IDIOTS!!

10 comments:

LL said...

I have to say that the concept about being happy about loosing runs against the grain. So I'm with your husband.

My personal concept of a good grade in school is an A. Anything less (the standard I held myself to) was a failure. Fortunately I see it in myself and don't push my children as hard as I push myself... but in my heart?

That's not to say that your daughter should punch out the kid who bested her at the sport. If I ever lost a game, I'd practice until I was unassailable. Many years ago I lost at a game of Trivial pursuit. I memorized the cards and never lost again. Nobody wanted to play against me after I had the cards down...

There was even an akido challenge once - but that's another story.

Lucy said...

Your kidding me. The teacher wanted to talk about this?
Really, the kids need to learn to work things like this out for themselves.
Your daughter will learn eventually from her peers how to behave and/or if she joins a team.
Sorry, I agree with your husband, sometimes us adults need to stay out of it and not make such a big deal out of nothing.
One more thought, the teacher could have handled it by herself, I really don't think it is parent conference call.

Kim said...

No one likes to lose, let's face it! However, we all need to suck it up that sometimes we lose and the pouting and crying can happen in the car, not on the field!

Joanie said...

My ex was better about talking to the kids about that kind of stuff than I ever was.

My son once got into an alercation with a girl in his class on the bus. She smacked him with her binder and his face got all scraped up and he lied about it so she wouldn't get in trouble. So I had to go to school and get to the bottom of it. Tim told this girl to "get her falanges out of her gluteus maximus". The teacher and principal were APPALLED!! I said, "well at least he's paying attention is science class!" They were NOT amused.
Sheesh.

Olga said...

This is humorous.
When I was a little girl, my dad taught me how to play chess. Whenever I lost, I'd smash all the chess pieces onto the floor.

Guess I'm not a good sport either :)

Tuesday Taylor said...

The apple doesn't fall from the tree!

Annette Piper said...

It's a long journey to learn about sportsmanship and that's its not all about winning. Not an easy lesson to learn (and definitely not that enjoyable sometimes!)

Vodka Mom said...

Did he write the teacher a note telling her she was a LOSER?? Then he's WAY better than tightwad.......

Opus #6 said...

I remember being called to the carpet by a teacher in grade school. This was memorable because it was SO unfair. Your daughter is human, and she is young. Is that a crime? Sheesh! She'll learn to hide her feelings soon enough. No need to heap humiliation onto her already. That teacher needs to find a way to relax.

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

LL - internally I agree with perfection being the ONLY standard. I try not to let that show too often.

Lucy - The teacher never actually called me. She may have just said that to the monkey to convey her disappointment.

Jo - Sounds like you coach sports ;)

Joanie - That's HILARIOUS! What a smart boy.

Olga - I think our people are worse than others in not being good sports.

Annette - I hear you.

Vodka - Thank G-d for small favors.

Opus - That's a really good way of looking at it. Thanks.

Scandy - He's really not that bad. Neither is she.