Emily Joswiak

We’ve all heard horror stories about bad parental behavior at youth sporting events. Arguing with coaches, second-guessing officials, or picking fights with other parents have become all-too-common occurrences at what are supposed to be fun, recreational activities for kids. Assuming you can control your behavior, what are other ways parents can support young athletes?

Let Your Child Choose Their Sport

This is not the time to relive your own childhood sports glory, and your child isn’t there to provide you with a do-over for that time your team lost a big game back in middle school. Your kid’s sport may not be your sport—they may even know more about the sport they choose than you do. Your job is to educate yourself about their choice, show up, and model adult, appropriate behavior.

Teach Good Sportsmanship

Help your child maintain a positive attitude and be gracious in both victory and defeat. Remember that video of the kid who struck out his best childhood buddy to win a championship? Instead of immediately joining a victory celebration, he ran toward home plate to give his devastated friend a hug. Don’t permit badmouthing of teammates and opponents, and don’t shame them for mistakes or poor play.

Provide Appropriate Equipment

This doesn’t mean you need to buy out the sporting goods store to obtain every new gadget or garment that comes along. Every sport, such as baseball, has some basic essentials your child will feel incomplete without. While the team may provide uniforms (for a fee, no doubt) your child may ask you to buy some extras, like protective equipment, sunglasses, or special gloves. Don’t immediately dismiss the request as unreasonable—you may find gently used equipment for a discounted price, or you can afford a splurge on a mouthguard or special socks, that will give your athlete more confidence.

Support Coaches and Officials

Games have rules; otherwise, they wouldn’t be games. Coaches and officials have likely volunteered their time to help kids have a chance to play. Accepting the occasional bad call graciously is part of the game. Learning that coaches and officials are human too is also an important life lesson. You should make sure your kid knows they can talk to you about their coaches and anything the coaches does as well. Unfortunately, some coaches have turned out to be bullies, or worse, so keep an eye out.

Listen to Your Child

If you notice your kid grows reluctant to participate in their sport, it’s time to talk. Youth sports are, above all else, supposed to be fun. If it’s not fun anymore, you need to know why and take action. It’s your role to listen and help your kid work out their next move in athletics, which may include deciding they’d rather have guitar lessons or take a dance class. One of the ways parents can support young athletes is knowing when it’s time to let your kid move on to something else.

Concrete floors and walls aren’t very inspiring, but there’s potential in the basement. Many basements turn into giant closets—essentially, dumping grounds for unwanted stuff in the house. If this sounds familiar, then it’s time to get rid of all that junk and make your basement into something great. If you are a DIYer, this is basically the Super Bowl of home renovations. If you’re not, that’s cool too; there are plenty of contractors looking for work. There are some important steps for finishing a basement to make it great.

Decide What You Want

Before putting even one nail in, decide what you want your basement to be. You need to have a game plan so you can pick out furnishings, lighting, electronics, and any other fixtures. There are plenty of essentials you need for a home theater; for instance, you’ll have different electricity needs than if you want a home gym. Think about these factors before moving forward.

Check for Water

Assuming you’ve lived in the house for a few years, if there’s water coming in, you’ll know where it’s at. Have a professional come in to seal the basement and prevent any further water from coming in. If it’s a new house, have someone come in and check the foundation. It’s silly to move forward and finish a basement if it’s going to get wet the first time it rains.

Make Repairs

In addition to the waterproofing, make any necessary repairs in the basement now. Fixing any cracks in the foundation or replacing a window is a lot easier at this stage in the game. Putting drywall up only to have to tear it down to fix something will cost more money and is hardly efficient.

Frame and Insulate

Once all the repairs are made, it’s time to frame the basement. The framing is essentially the basement’s skeleton. The drywall, insulation, electrical wires, and lights are all attached to the wood frame. Make sure to check the doorways and ensure they are standard sizes, so there’s no problem finding a door to fit the space.

Run Utilities

Once the frame is up, it’s time to run the electric and add any HVAC runs you might want or need. Before starting, map out where you want outlets and switches. With the amount of electronics modern houses have, be sure you put enough in so you can power all the TVs and devices.

Drywall and Paint

After all the utilities are run, it’s time to hang the drywall. Start at the top and make your way down. Break up the seams so you don’t have a long seam that runs from the ceiling to the floor. Make good measurements when cutting out lights and outlets. They can be off a half-inch at most; otherwise, the covers won’t hide the gaps. When painting, make sure to put down a primer coat. New drywall soaks up the paint, and you’ll end up spending a lot of money putting on multiple coats.