Being a fan of any professional sports team can be traumatic even in the best of times. New York Mets fans are not experiencing the best of times.
At 9-19, the team is tied for the worst record in all of MLB. For older Mets fans, this is an unsurprising development — years of last-place finishes have inured them to blown leads and lost seasons. But how are younger fans supposed to deal with the state of their beloved team?
On Friday, Dr. Belinda Bellet, a therapist who goes by “therapywithdr.b” on Instagram, posted a video in response to the Mets breaking their 12-game losing streak last week — a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, which, unfortunately, saw star shortstop Francisco Lindor exit with a calf strain. He’ll likely be out for at least three weeks, putting a damper on a rare bright spot for the Mets this season.
Dr. Bellet’s video had suggestions for how parents could talk to their kids about the difficult emotions stemming from the injury.
“Two opposite things being true at the same time,” Dr. Bellet wrote. “You can be relieved AND heartbroken. You can celebrate AND grieve. You don’t have to pick one feeling and throw the other away. Don’t rush your kid out of the complicated feeling. Sit in it with them. That’s where grit actually grows.”
Good advice for any Mets fan, especially considering the team has gone 1-3 since Lindor’s injury. At least one commenter brought up an important additional concern, however.
“The Mets have been teaching me grit for 30 years,” the commenter wrote. “When do we get to the part where they teach me happiness[?]”
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