I’ve always considered myself good with kids; even in my youth, my parents’ friends would call me “king of the kids”. I knew and understood I was the oldest, but I didn’t realise that while the adults wined and dined, little Haydo was the entertainment: I was the babysitter.
Fast forward 20 years to now. I’m a proud father of two little girls, an uncle and an ‘unofficial uncle’ to my friends’ kids. I still find myself connecting well with the ‘littlies’. Helping with their games and keeping a good flow of play. Playing a whole lot of chasing-based games. Usually all the kids are ‘it’ and I am most certainly not. Run!
The biggest challenge faced, as I’m sure many parents already know, is keeping a lid on the ‘squabbles’.
The art of the ‘squabble squash’ is a tough one. I find to start, getting down to the kids’ level and asking them to recognise their emotions helps. It’s hit and miss, but it’s how I like to go about it.
My ‘squabble squash’ skills were put to the test recently. My oldest, Evie, is now five. Her and her ‘bestie’, News regular Eden, have started Auskick together at the Congupna Football Netball Club on a Thursday afternoon. I couldn’t help but offer my assistance.
I found myself leading an activity station last week. I had the ‘Tail Tag’ station, where kids had bibs hanging out of their shorts and had to chase their friends and try to grab someone’s tail, all while watching their backs.
It was utter chaos.
Trying to keep up to 12 kids playing fairly, in a slightly competitive game, was one of my biggest challenges to date. But I managed to get the groups through it all. I spent most of my time yelling at them to “give the tail back” after they had captured one, so the other person could keep playing.
Once everyone had their turn at each station, it was time to run a game of footy. It just so happened that the final group at my station featured the oldest kids, around the age of seven, I believe.
You would think when I screamed “who wants to play a game?!” they’d get themselves in order and off we would go. How wrong I was. The next thing I knew, they were all running around in circles screaming “footy!” at the top of their lungs. I was very quickly losing control. So I handed out some bibs, picked two kids for the ruck and threw the ball up. They cottoned on pretty quick and we were playing.
Every kick, handpass and tackle resulted in a ‘squabble’. Spot-fires were breaking out everywhere. This was a situation I had never found myself in when dealing with kids. I just had to throw the ball up. The only way to keep them focused was to keep the game going.
Let me tell you, when Congupna Auskick co-ordinator Scott Thorne blew the final whistle, and it was over, I savoured the sweet feeling of relief.
Some final thoughts, as someone who thought he was good with kids. To the volunteers at Auskick, NetSetGo, kids’ cricket and any other activities, my respect for you has reached a new level. Even for teachers who deal with packs of screaming children on the regular — I take my hat off to you.
I did it for one hour and it was tough.
Can’t wait to do it again next week.
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