I wish I could be able to see my breath this time of year...and that if I breathed in, my boogers would freeze. It's October, and it's still 100 degrees. Supposedly it's going to cool down, (if you consider 90's cooler), and with Halloween around the corner we all sure hope for it. I think the heat is starting to get to me a little more this season since I spend most of Saturday in the sunshine on a field.
So I signed up all 4 of my kids for sports this season. It seemed like a fun idea at the time...and it is. I think. Well, for the most part, anyway. (I may have both sentence and thought finishing issues because of this).
Yep. I am starting to feel insane, and have even gotten the vibe that other's are secretly starting to agree. I'll even admit I come close to hyperventalating every Friday night when I look at my kids schedule for games for Saturday, (which is when I plan out who's driving who to where and when). Not to mention, we, (I), already have been to and from 6 or 8 practices during the week as well. But after all the schedules get figured out, when Saturday comes, there's really no other place I'd rather be than under my shade in my lopsided lawnchair, with my cherry coke zero in hand, getting ready to watch my kids play. When it comes to cheering, I really don't consider myself "hard core". And wow, there are definately a lot of those kind of parents out there. I promised myself I will never shout: "Man up!" every two seconds like some football Dads do, or spit endless bags of sunflower seeds while shouting "Come on, you can do better than that!" like I've heard some softball parents do, or a be a "swear at the ref" kind of soccer fan. Sheesh. Like the kids don't already know when they made a mistake, and I'm sure they don't need their parents announcing their disappointments. When it comes to game day, I don't ever expect perfection from my kids, but just that they were trying their best. Winning isn't everything, but competitiveness and the drive to play a game well will always run in my blood....but the love for my kids comes before any of that.
This is Rylan's first year playing any kind of sport at all, and since we're mainly a "soccer" family, (we also have every size of hand-me-down soccer cleat available), so what better sport than to give him a try at soccer. (The game day fields are literally in our neighborhood as well). At this age, his Blue Raiders team plays games on a mini field with mini goals with 4 mini kids playing at a time. It's adorable. There are no goalies, so it's fun to watch them score a goal. His "mad ninja ball kicking skills" have scored him two goals so far!
Lanie has been playing for her East Valley Pride softball team for about 2 months now. This team is everything Lanie ever dreamed of for a softball team, except for maybe the part of underestimating the time commitment it requires. Every other weekend there are 3 games in a row to go to in Casa Grande, (that's a 9 hour day), occasional Tuesday & Thursday double header games, (expect to be there about 4 1/2 hours each night), and every Friday night from 6-8:30 is batting practice. That's a lot of softball for our 12 year old, and her taxi driver. She's mostly playing outfield for now, and it's so much fun to watch her hit and steal bases. I can tell she's hoping to make a homerun soon, and I want to make sure I'm there when she does. I have three goals as a softball Mom: learn how to take down stats, how chew sunflower seeds, and build up game watching endurance.
Josie is on her 4th season with her Barcelona soccer team. Sigh. Let's just say, her team isn't doing so well this season. All losses...two ties. At the beginning of the season, about 5 of their forwards transferred to different club teams, and the newer members of the team play only defence. Well, kind of. So...long story short, when you can't score, you kind of can't win. Josie is counting the days away from highschool soccer tryouts, and can't wait to play on a team with some girls who aren't afraid to finish and play on a more competitive level. It's been a difficult season for her, but she's learning what it means to have to try to keep a winning attitude on a losing team. I love watching her play. She's got some amazing talent....All my kids do. It just must be in their blood. ;)
