It was my most shameful moment as a parent. Now I’m seeing it play out all around me

June 18, 2026 — 7:00pm

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It happens to all of us at some point in parenting: we have to reckon with the least refined sides of ourselves.

I’ve nudged against mine on a couple of occasions. One was the urge to be a sports tiger parent.

Several years ago, when my eldest started sport I assumed she’d be as into it as I was as a kid. For me, sport was life, and it was assumed that for her and her sister, it would be too.

I thought I’d be a supportive, relaxed sport parent because mine were. Also, I’d seen the aggressive parents at my brothers’ games. The dads who hurled abuse and needed to be escorted from the sidelines. I’d also had more than one friend plead with their parents to stop being belligerent at our netball and cricket matches.

There were also the pushy parents, the ones who scolded instead of encouraged their resistant, worried kids, and the ones who stonewalled their child when they didn’t win.

I didn’t want any part of it.

So, having to muzzle my own competitive urges as a parent took me by surprise.

When my sweet, sensitive 5-year-old started playing soccer, she was Ferdinand in the field smelling flowers. She wasn’t interested in the ball and there was no killer instinct in sight.

Instead of marvelling, I felt a sharp pang of disappointment.

Other sports we tried weren’t her thing either. She hated being out in the hot sun, and preferred walking and........

© Brisbane Times