Be kind to the coach

Yesterday I stepped off the curb to cross the parking lot, and someone backed a car straight into me.  Through the open window I could hear her exclaim to the child with her, "did you see that!  That lady walked right behind me!"  I went to the open window and told her, no, I had already been in the street and she started backing up without looking.  Then I turned and went on my way.  She then proceeded to honk at me and scream out her window that I was "crazy."  I stopped to see who it was-- yep. Skating mom.

On Thursdays, I teach group classes for three hours.  It is intense, although mostly fun.  Several children, all at once, different ages, different abilities, different personalities.  They might be tired, hungry, having a bad day; a lot of them are unable to stand still, have difficulty focusing, and/ot unrevealed developmental issues.  I am expected to keep them engaged, interested, learning, and to leave the ice smiling.  And I do it. 

It wrings me dry.  Some days I go and sit behind the wheel of my car with my head back and my eyes closed before I find the energy to turn the key and go home.

So pay attention; cut me some slack.  I've just spent a few hours with your child; it's not unlikely that a child yelled at me, tripped me, hit another child, got lost on the way to the bathroom, refused to do what I asked, or wouldn't stop talking.  If I accidentally walk behind your car, don't call me "crazy."  Assume I've just giving everything I've got to make your child happy, and I've just got nothing left.  I'm not allowed to yell at you, or complain about you, or, god-forbid, tell you to eff off.

Nobody needs to end their day like that.