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My 11-year old came up to me the other day and said, "Mom, I just realized! I have a job!" "Yes you do!", I said. This summer my son signed up to be an umpire for the Little League baseball games. All you have to do it sign up, go to a meeting about learning the rules, and ump one level younger than you are. It only pays $9.00/game, but hey, that's more than I give him for his allowance in one week!
I think it's a great experience for him, but I'm also kind of skeptical. Some of those parents are ruthless to the umps. Last summer I didn't think I was going to be able to take it anymore. OK, this one kid actually was a pretty bad ump, BUT he WAS just a kid who was learning, AND this WAS just Little League, not the Major League. Just like you can't get upset when one of the kids doesn't play well because they are just learning, the umps have to start somewhere too. I had to hold myself back when I heard some parents booing the ump and SCREAMING, "New ump!". I debated saying something to these parents, but then I thought they might beat ME up! I LOVED how our coach handled the situation with the bad calls. He just went up to the ump and said, "Did you see that play? Because if you didn't, you can just say that you don't know because you couldn't see. I'm just letting you know." Our coach was frusterated, too, but he treated that ump very fairly.
My son doesn't worry about being yelled at. My husbands only concern is that he will get called ALL the time to ump. I don't think that's anything to worry about. He can always just say no. One mother I talked to at a game was there watching her son ump. She told me she can barely watch the games he umps because she doesn't want to see anyone yelling at her son. I guess it's bound to happen sometime, but hopefully not too often that it makes him want to quit. Did anyone else's son ever ump? Was it a good or bad experience for them?
Yesterday I recieved an award from Marie at Marie's Random Thoughts on Love and Life. Thank you Marie! I just LOVE reading her blog. Stop by it sometime. Marie was in a car accident with her husband on New Years Eve. She was rushed to the emergency room where the doctor told her... She's pregnant! Both she and the baby were perfectly fine. This past weekend she just met her sister's daughter (her niece), that she didn't even know that she had! It's an amazing story.I pass this award onto Girlymom at The Red Door and Kitty at Kitty's Bloggy Bits.
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14 comments:
I wish your son lots of luck with his new job! I use to referee volleyball games when I was in high school for the junior high. It was a good experience. Hopefully parents won't be too hard on him.
Thank You for the award~ You are too kind! I love it! I give your son credit for wanting to be an Ump...I refereed soccer for wahile and the parents were tough...that and the shoe laces, seems I was always tying shoes! :) He will only get stronger from it right?!!
i hope the other parents are not harsh. i wish him the best of luck. he sounds pretty ambitious!
What a great opportunity for him! And the money is nothing to sniff at, either! Good for him!
I haven't had a child do this, and would probably have a hard time with it if some angry parent was yelling at my kid, but I figure, they'll have to get used to this kind of thing sooner or later. Let's face it, people out there can be mean at times.
It bites that there are people out there that would yell at a kid ump, but sadly...there are always plenty of them around these days.
This job could help your son develop good people skills, especially the invaluable one of letting angry comments and such roll like water off a ducks back. He'll need that skill should he ever want to coach a team one day.
Cute award, congratulations! :)
I hope your son will enjoy his new job, and not take it too seriously. Or should I say, I hope the PARENTS and COACHES don't take it too seriously... :S
Good luck to him!!
Good luck to son! He will do a great job. I think he has your father's temperment going for him. It will be a great experience to deal with unreasonable people. As a parent I would not want my kid to go through that. Just remember it will build character.
I think it is great that 11 year olds have something that they can do. He is already learning what many don't get to learn until they are 15 or 16
Good luck. Theresa
Oooh, thank you Maria! I get a Kitty award! It's lovely - thank you for thinking of me.
I hope your son has FUN at his summer job - where would those teams be if there were no umpire at all, eh? x
The ump job will probably a great character building job. I doubt he'll ever be the parent yelling at the umps when he has kids of his own. I wish him the best of luck.
How fun that your son has a job. Hopefully it'll go well for him. It should be a wonderful experience for him.
And congrats on the bloggy bling!
Congrats on your award. And your son getting a job. I think it will be a great learning experience!
Now, that's pretty cool - I've never heard of where kids get jobs as the ump - cool! I hope no one yells at him.
Congrats on the great award - way to go!
Have a good Friday - Kellan
Apples have 137 calories
Bananas have 116 calories
Oranges have 37 calories
All of this I know from memory.
My best friends boy friend (now husband) umped for the little league when he was in high school. I think we razzed him more that the parents, just because it was fun.
My sons have never umped, but some of their friends have. It sounds like a really good experience for him! There are always a few parents that take things way too seriously, hopefully being that he's only 11 they'll go easy on him. Like you said, parents have to remember that they're just kids, too, and they're doing the best they can.
Congrats on your award, and best of luck to your son! Have a great weekend!
Lizzy
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