The Position of Mom

The skating world is all aflurry with the recent breakup of Kim Yu-Na (you know, the James Bond Chick from the Olympics) and her Coach, Brian Orser. (Canadian dude, also did Olympic shit.)

Brian says that all of this came out of the blue, he's all "bewildered" and he got the news in a sit down meeting with (ready?) Yu-Na's Mom. Kim herself was apparently not present to break the bad news to Orser, and Orser claims that she didn't know what was going on. A few hours after the split, a cryptic message appeared on Kim's Twitter feed, saying something about "stop to tell a lie, B?" and "This is what I've DECIDED." Speculators speculate that this tweet came not from Kim, but from "her handlers." Mom.

Kim Yu-Na is an Olympic Gold Medal Winner, runs a Korean Media Empire, is twenty years old and by all rational definitions, a fully functioning adult. But when it comes to her skating, Mom apparently is still calling the shots.

Park Mee-Hee is Kim's Mom. She says a lot of fun things here. And there's also some gems here. Helicopter mom? Pshaw! Meet ALPHA MOM! (I fucking LOVE this term!)

Mee-Hee admits to keeping track of Kim's mistakes and practically forgetting about her other daughter. I can only imagine what goes on with those two, and it's got to be something like ripping up rosebushes in the middle of the night with skate blades, or maybe throwing Mondor tights everywhere with some screeching "CLEAN IT UP!" at the end.



When kids are little, we moms have to step in and be their advocate. But as they grow up, we have to start stepping back and letting them take more responsibility and cred for their own lives. If we invest too much of ourselves in someone with their own ideas and their own free will, we're going to be disappointed. Period. That disappointment is what breeds anger and rumors of beatings with hairbrushes. Part of my learning curve with the skating thing is understanding that K will quickly lose interest if I'm always butting in with suggestions and tips. This is HIS DEAL.

But I have to wonder what will become of Mee-Hee and Yu-Na. Yu-Na says she won't let her own daughter do skating. Whatever the outcome, I look forward to the movie.