Walking the tightrope

It was beautiful outside yesterday.  A great day to take the kids to the park to play basketball.  There are several parks in town.  The first park was overcrowded.  The second park was overcrowded.  The third park was just crowded.  I'm tired of driving to look for a park.  The third park wins.

Four basketball courts, three of which are filled with kids/adults between the ages of 10 and 30.  All of which are swearing beyond measure.  Now, to be completely honest, I'm no saint.  Never claimed to be.  But I do try to be careful about the things my boys see and hear.  Which brings me to the dilemma...

I'm left with 3 choices in my mind:

1. Stay and play.  We teach the boys right from wrong and they know bad words when they hear them.  We can't "protect" them forever.
2. Leave.  Just cash out and live to fight another day.  There are other things to do in town.
3. Ask the people playing to stop swearing.  Asking the thirty (suspect) people playing to stop swearing would've not only made me look like an idiot (rightfully so?), but may have led to a mob beating.  Nah.  I'll pass.

So what did I do?  I stayed.  And the boys and I talked.  The point is this.  I think we as parents have to walk this tightrope of protecting our kids vs. sheltering so much that they don't know how to interact with other people.  I look at it this way.  If hearing some guys swear on a basketball court for an hour on Sunday afternoon corrupts my boys, I messed up somewhere else along the way.

Protect your kids by all means.  By ALL means.  But more importantly, have fun with them, talk with them, and love them.  Those are the things that they will remember... not the words they overhear on a basketball court.