When you sense that you're becoming the overzealous parent or stage parent, try and take a step back, a deep breath, and ask yourself, "Why is my child involved in this event?" Assume it's AYSO soccer; well, you signed them up because all their friends are doing it. So, it's a social activity. You hope that they're going to learn something about teamwork, learn a little discipline, and have fun. You have to remind yourself that's why they're doing what they're doing. It's interesting, I've coached 17 years of AYSO soccer, 5 years of youth basketball, and helped out with a couple of baseball teams over the years. And I coached in a community where we had a lot of professional athletes. A lot of those professional athletes attended their kids games, sat in the stands with all the other parents, and they never said a word, not one of them. They sat quietly, they applauded when it was appropriate, and they were the first parent that came up to me after the game and said, "Hey great job, coach. Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this." And that was it. I learned from that. If a pro athlete responds that way, shouldn't a parent be responding the same way too?