A friend just sent me a video of a reality tv show style YouTube series about youth wrestling and told me to skip to a few parts with parents. I watched an 11 year old kid pin a former state champion and proceed to get yelled at by his dad because "he didn't spend all this time for a 30 second match." Cue to the kid balling and the parent yelling at him more.

I skimmed the rest of the videos and, surprise, surprise, that kid gets emotional in every match. And the dad sits on the mat, yelling at him. And they interview the dad and he's like "I don't know why he's always crying, he's such a Martha." He then explains he nicknames his kid Martha because he thinks he's a pussy.

Like gee, maybe the kid is under an intense amount of stress because he has no idea how to make your dumbass happy.

Youth sports is insane. When I was a kid, my parents basically forced me to go to basketball tournaments off season and I fucking hated it. You felt like you had to go because everyone else was going and then you get sideline coached/yelled at by your parents.

I love how younger generations are always classified by older generations as "lazy" or "wusses" or whatever. You're the ones raising them you fucks.

Maybe stop living through your kid and let them choose what they want to do. I quit basketball after sophomore year and was instantly happier. If your kid likes a sport they're going to end up hating it because of you.

Thank you for listening to my Ted talk.

  • Notcontenttobequiet [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Real therapy hours, but I had an awful relationship with my father ages like 6-14 because he essentially forced me to try like every sport under the sun and I hated every minute. Probably thought people would think I was gay or something, well oops too late on that one. Needed years of therapy to get past that and he wasn't even like these people.

    The irony is, I've always been in pretty good shape. I went to the gym pre pandemic and I run sometimes. I'm just not very competitive and ADHD makes keeping track of a game literally impossible.

    • TankieDukakis [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Ditto on the non-competitive part.

      There's a lot of reasons why I've slipped into an inactive lifestyle and I'm not here to make excuses but I have no doubt part of it is having competition drilled into my head for so long and now that I'm out of shape I have a fear of looking weak/stupid in front of other people. Just like when I was in high school. Feels bad.

      • PaulSmackage [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I know i'm gonna sound like a dick, but here's a small exercise that got me started because i also had a fairly inactive lifestyle: get a beginners weight set, and watch tv. When commercials start playing, do some basic bicep and hammer curls until the commercials finish. If it starts to hurt, stop. It'll almost become second nature after a few days.

        • TankieDukakis [none/use name]
          hexagon
          ·
          3 years ago

          Don't worry you don't come off a dick!

          I just moved to a new town last week and I am trying to be more active. I've been walking trails at a state park outside of town and walking to stores. Plus I've been eating much healthier.

          Only problem I have is since I teach I won't be paid until August and I'm broke as shit. There is a rec center in town that is very reasonable and works with the school, but they take it out of my paycheck directly so I have to wait a few months to start lifting.

          • PaulSmackage [he/him, comrade/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Looks like we're in the same boat. I moved back in with my parents after living in my familys cottage two days ago, but thankfully theres plenty to do. I've still got a lake to do my cardio swimming, and plenty of gardening and maintenance to do. Even got some dogs to go out for runs and to play with. Good luck with getting back into routine, that's always the toughest bit.

            • TankieDukakis [none/use name]
              hexagon
              ·
              3 years ago

              I've tried jogging but it's just too damn hot.

              I would lie if I said I didn't have anxiety about going to the rec center but I'm hoping to find that routine and actually look/feel better.

              • PaulSmackage [he/him, comrade/them]
                ·
                3 years ago

                I fell in love with lifting because all the guys that were around in the morning at the gym were also in love with it. I've found that if you look like you're trying, you'll get all the positive support you could want.