How many of your kids wish like heck they could call a taxi for a ride home after a ball game? 

I know my oldest son would have called Uber several times if he could have, and probably offered to pay for it himself. 

I learned very early on in my parent-coach role that the last thing he ever wanted to talk about on the way home from his game was the game itself. It didn't matter whether he played well or poorly, won or lost. He didn't want to hear my best postgame speech in the car. 

It was the same when I’d spend a season just as a parent in the bleachers. 

On one particular car ride home, I went on for five minutes about a few game details — OK, more than a few, and probably more than five minutes — that I would have liked to see him and the team do better. I followed my barrage of hints and ideas with, "You know I'm only trying to help, right?" 

His response: "Yes, but do we really need to discuss it now? The game is over, let it rest." 

And you know what? He was right. And by the way, he was 7. Who says kids aren't sometimes smarter than us adults? 

So I promised myself right then and there that I would never talk about a game or practice on the car ride home again. And I can proudly say I haven't. All I say is, "Good game, you played well." 

But trust me, my willpower sure hasn't been easy and on more than one occasion I suggested he drive home with his mother. 

I don't mean we never talked about the game. In fact, we always did and I still do with his younger brothers. But we discuss it when they’re ready. I make it a point to just listen. Even if I don't agree with the analysis, I don't say anything unless they ask my opinion — I can count on one hand the number of times that’s happened — and then I do express my thoughts, whether I think they'll like them or not. But I also tell them it is just my opinion, and they can disagree if they want and his coach and other parents might also.

What have I learned? Well, that like most adults, kids want to talk when they are ready and prefer to be supported and listened to rather than lectured and criticized. And you know what? Typically, when I just wait for them to want to talk, I get to make the points I wanted to make anyway, just in a very non-threatening manner that they are now much more responsive to because they are ready to listen. 

Think about your last car ride home from a game. Was it spent talking about all the things that your player could have done better? Or was that time spent having a conversation about what your child wanted to talk about … whether it was related to the game or not?

My guess is the former. After the next game, try the latter.  

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years, originally as a coach and board member with his now-adult son and most recently "just as a dad" with his 8- and 10-year-old sons. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Not an Expert, Just a Dad … In this Crazy Game Called Life,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.