Soccer Mania

The weekend was full of activity - yardwork, grocery shopping, laundry (ALWAYS), church, a memorial service, baseball and of course... SOCCER! My son's soccer team had two games, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. They don't usually play on Sundays, however, this was a makeup game due to a previously rained out game. We were beginning to think this game would never take place because it had been rained out twice, so this was a "makeup to the makeup" game.

Allow me to back up a moment to Saturday's game. It was so exciting! Our team was down 2-0 and things were looking rather bleak. We finally scored a goal, so at least it wasn't going to be a total shut-out. Then we scored again, and this time my son scored the goal, a first for him. He was so psyched, and I was thrilled to have been in attendance. I had been in a not so pleasant mood because we were so busy that day and I was having to do it alone again. When my son scored, I felt a total change come over me. I was so happy to have been able to see him play well and to witness first-hand his excitement and happiness. Although I wished my husband had been there to share the moment with me, I selfishly thought, "It's my turn!" It seems every single time one of our kids does exceptionally well in a sport (whatever it may be at the time), it happens to be the one game of the season I'm off taking care of the other kid and I don't get to see the big moment. Is that terribly petty of me? Yeah, probably so, but it just seems unfair that I haul these little people around all over the place day after day for practices and yet I don't get to see their moment of glory! Where's the fairness in that? I think I should occasionally have the opportunity to see them do something extraordinary. I got to see just that on Saturday. It was AWESOME, even if the team lost 4-3.

The team played again on Sunday and they WON their first game of the season, 3-0. I'm not sure who was more excited, the kids or the parents. Of course I think the coaches were pretty pumped too. Perhaps their hard work, patience and dedication are finally paying off a little. But the biggest thrill for me was seeing this big smile on my kiddo's face. Makes it all worthwhile!