Soccer

Well, it has come to this.  Bryan, in his eagerness to sportify our kids, has signed up four of our children for spring soccer.  This new activity was met with barely lukewarm show of enthusiasm on my part.  I've always hated soccer.  In high school, I couldn't stand the game.  Kick and run at the same time?  Are you kidding?   It is a sport I simply cannot do.

Seeing my children out on the soccer field fills me with subdued admiration.  You see, the weather conditions have been far from optimal.  I found Monday's weather rather miserable.  It was overcast and cold.  Yet, Jacob and Marlayna played their games and actually enjoyed themselves.  I am so proud of them both!

Yet it was today's lamentable weather that literally set my teeth on edge.  Breezy and Dani play games back-to-back, which means that this evening I was forced to watch for 2 hours while my offspring were slowly turned into perambulating popsicles.  It was heartbreaking to see.  The whole way to the soccer fields, the girls were betting that the games were off and that we somehow missed the announcement.  But it was not so.  When we got there, we saw the the usual horde of parents and kids.  We squished our way the playing field where Bri was handed a white T-shirt and a pair of immaculate white socks.  Somehow, this girl had to put them on while surrounded by a see of wet grass and mud.  How in the world....??

It pains me to admit it, but at first I just stood there and watched.  I could feel the cold (only 6 degrees above zero) seeping through my gloves and boots.  Taking my gloves off at this point would only diminish any chance of me getting through the next 2 hours in relative comfort.  But I soon took pity on Breezy and helped her lace up her shoes.  I couldn't watch and not be moved at her stalwart courage.

Breezy, trooper that she is, enjoyed the whole muddy fiasco.  At the end of her game, she materialized out of the gluey haze with a triumphant grin on her face.  She and her sodden team mates had played - and survived!

Danielle was a little less thrilled with her accomplishment.  She is more like her mother and spent most of her game pondering the insanity of it all.  It will take a healthy dose of sunshine and an even healthier trouncing of the opposing team next time to banish this detestable experience from her memory.