I’m sure some would label me as a soft mom. I have great kids who are kind, respectful, smart, do good in school, and don’t cause any trouble. So I’ve kind of had it easy on that front. Sure, they won’t listen from time to time and I’ll get pissed and yell, but for the most part, they are good kids. My 9-year-old's soccer team had their first loss of the season, 5-1, and they all were taking it pretty hard.

Tell me why I’m standing talking to some friends and I see my kid running laps around the field after he just played an hour-long game. I went over to his dad to ask him why he was running laps, and of course, he gave me some stupid bullshit answer, so I called him an asshole for doing it. But now I’m wondering if I’m just being too soft as a mom. I remember the only year I played soccer, the coach made us run laps by however many points we lost by, and I hated him for it. It didn’t make us any better and made me never want to play again.

I’m afraid that if their dad keeps on him like this, he’s not going to want to continue. Maybe I’m being dramatic; maybe I’m not. I just don’t understand punishing my kid for trying his best and coming up short. I don’t think that’s a way to encourage at all. Am I crazy?