Those of us with kids playing soccer know all about parents yelling and coaching from the sidelines. Debates about it have raged and raged for years. Most soccer parents will agree that soccer sidelines are usually quite interesting and never boring. But parents who go overboard screaming at their kids can ruin it for everyone – the kids included. So when I stumbled across this at the Springfield MO Soccer Blog, I had to share:

A mother is making a breakfast with fried eggs for her teenage son. Suddenly the boy bursts into the kitchen. He screams:

"Careful! CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my goodness! You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They’re going to STICK! Careful! … CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you’re cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"

The mother stared at him. "What’s wrong with you? You think I don’t know how to fry a couple of eggs?"

The son calmly replied, "I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m trying to play soccer."

Smiley If you’ve got a parent email list for your league – you really should pass this on. Priceless.