I was a good mom in many ways, but you've gone where I've never dared...managing.  I spent their sports/cheer careers being a good team mom.  Snacks, loading an SUV full of water on ice, modeling appropriate behavior, and pretending I wasn't bored to death.  

I wouldn't have been able to manage if my life depended on it.  And reffing?  They deserve baskets of muffins, backrubs, and standing ovations for not punching the obnoxious parents in their collective necks.

My dad did little league for years and was famous for tossing out parents who interfered from the sidelines...and benching their kids for parental behavior.  Not saying his methods were nice, or right, but they sent a message.  Which was apparently if you're not coaching on the field STFU outside of encouraging chatter.  It was the 70's...things were looser back then.  (source original Bad News Bears and my brother's little league career (which had no smoking/beer drinking minors and not sponsors by a bail bondsman.  )

You're a saint though - seriously.  Team sports are supposed to teach kids how to work together, sportsmanship...all that stuff that translates into not being a douche in life and parents like you describe negate all of that.

Btw - YAY you're blogging!!  And your first entry!  This is your life now...

Thank you Buffy. I didn't actually choose to manage the team, I was chosen because they needed someone to handle the difficult parents. It was already known they were problematic and decided that a kid shouldn't be punished because their parents are a-holes. Since it is a travel league they can turn players away. Keep the jerks together so they don't  spread the negativity to others.

      Your dad sounds like he was a good coach/ref. It has to be embarrassing to have your parent screaming like a loon. Benching the kid for a game sends a message, like shooting a cannon in the air. Our ref this weekend told our parents he was reffing and didn't want their help. I like when they do that.

I agree wholeheartedly with Buffy's assertion that you are a saint, Grimalkin!  I hated sitting anywhere near *those* parents while cheering on my kids, yet there was nowhere to move, because they were almost everywhere.  Society has gone to such crappy places, and the extremes help nothing.  When they're tiny, every child wins; a few years later dog-eat-dog is encouraged and the parents become insane.