Soccer

For some reason, N. never seemed too young to me when he played sports. He started playing soccer at 3, and it seemed like he was big enough. Yesterday was R's first day of soccer practice. He seemed so tiny!! He had a good time, but boy, is his team nuts! It truly was, as S. says, "like herding cats."

The practice went well, and at the end they sort of had a scrimmage. Keep in mind that they have no concept of the fact that there are boundary lines of any sort--they aren't drawn on the field, and how could they imagine them? They don't even know they are supposed to be there! Anyway--several of the kids (including R) would kick the ball several times, get frustrated that it wasn't going the direction that they wanted, and either pick it up and turn it around or just give it a shove with their fist. That was funny.

When the scrimmage was over, R came off the field and I could see the tears coming. I knew it was going to happen. "Mommy! They wouldn't let me score a goal!" Then, sobs. It was horrible. But, I did have a moment of feeling like a good parent. I sat down on the grass with him and explained that when you're on a team, if one person gets a goal, the whole team gets a goal. It is just as important to be the one who kicks the ball to the guy who scores, as it is to be the one who scores.

I reminded him that he kicked the ball into the game from the goal line and took the ball all the way down the field all by himself (really--he had 5 or 6 great kicks--no one could catch him, and he went straight for his goal!). When he got to his goal, no one stole the ball from him. He "passed" the ball to his teammate and he scored! So, really, he and R both scored. It's called teamwork. He loved that idea.

I made a big deal of how he is a great ball handler and you have to be very brave and very fast and have really good coordination to go all the way down the field. I told him that Daddy and N can't do it. (That's stretching it a bit, but it made him feel better!) In the car, I called S. and told him all about it while R could hear me. When we got home, I started telling N how great R played and by that time, R was so excited and proud of himself that he finished the story for me. So, his love of soccer is still intact for now.
He really is a good ball handler. He has good hand/eye coordination. It is interesting that already he has different skills and abilities than N. It's only the first practice, but it is the first time he's ever played an "organized" (term used loosely!) sport. And, he looks totally different than N. does when he plays something.

It was a strange feeling to watch R play. A feeling I get in a lot of situations with him. It is not nerve racking for me, like it is when N does something new, because I have been through it before with the older brother. I just have this amazing sense of excitment for him. I have that for N too, but it takes a while to get through the nerves and get to the excitement. With R, I can just smile and enjoy the beauty of seeing him go through a new experience. I wonder if it will be that way when he does something that N hasn't ever done. . .always something to ponder. . .