JBR wrote:
Really difficult to get that balance right - I see it a lot at parkrun juniors (2km), where lots of kids run with a smile on their face, but some love it one week and not the next, some do a lap and are aghast at doing another and all the shades of meltdown you might expect. Every parent's doing their best, and I've never seen a really competitive "COME ON!" style, though some seem a bit too pleased at the relative success.
TBF I've been the "COME ON" parent at junior parkrun. Not competitively though, just in a "if you stop fucking whining you'll get to the end and we can get out of the cold" way.
(Begs the question why they want to do it when they whinge so much but there we go)