Anna Li and Jiani Wu suspended

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

And yet we had other parents asking us, basically, what the hell was wrong with us, why didn't we want this for our child, how could we not push our child, now he has no chance to play travel/high school/college/pro. HE'S SEVEN.

My nine-year-old competes at a moderate level in an entirely non-gymnastic sport where I recently heard a parent shouting at their seven-year-old because he was playing around with his friends in between races and - this is a direct quote - "you're not here to have fun, you're here to win". I have told various people inside and outside the sport that if I ever start behaving like that they have permission to punch me.

 

[QuietColours]

My son is two, with a summer birthday. People have been criticizing us since he was less than a year old because we don't plan to red shirt him in kindergarten unless there's a developmental reason--we aren't going to default to it for him to have a better chance at sports.

We also hear "He's so strong and coordinated! It's too bad he's so little!" (20th percentile and likely to stay there). He. Is. Two.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I don't know what the fuck is wrong with some people.

 

[OnlyBeansOnToast]

I don't know what the fuck is wrong with some people.

I blame the internet. First, because of the number of people who want their kid to get to some magic number of Instagram followers so they can become either the next Livy or, failing that, land a "brand ambassadorship" for a scrunchie company. Second, because in the 80s and 90s it was that much harder to find a provider of whatever sport you're into and get your kid enrolled and arrange private lessons and so on, took some effort and visits to the library and writing to governing bodies. So a generation of kids were "denied" the chance to chase their dreams but have now been enabled to live vicariously instead. And third because the absolute worst parents in the world now have a platform from which to broadcast their batshit child-wrangling to the universe, thus increasing awareness.