Soccer Season

        For the past six weeks, every Saturday afternoon Kenny has taken Elijah to soccer practice for an hour.  Then, me and the girls tote our chairs and snacks across 4 fields to sit and watch Elijah play in his soccer game for another hour.  Well, I watch, cheer and take pictures and the girls either complain about the heat, beg for more snacks, or fight over who gets to use my phone to play games.  But they are good sisters and tell their big brother good job at the end of the game.

 It seemed odd to me that I hadn't mentioned this weekly excursion so I thought it was time to give my readers (grandparents) some insight into these weekly games.

       It's been a bit of losing year for Elijah so maybe that's why I haven't written. He really likes to play, and he works so hard, never stopping.   But because of the way the league is set up, he is the oldest player (3 weeks shy of 9-years-old) and many of his teammates are newly turned 6-year-olds, basically his sister's age.  And that's a big difference.

     And while it's been our commendation that this experience help him learn to be a good leader, it has not been easy.  You see, (if I haven't already said it a million times), Elijah loves sports and competition the way that I love holiday candy, the way that Kenny loves Mountain Dew, the way the girls live to perform song & dance routines.  He gets frustrated with kids who don't take it seriously and tears in his eyes when the other team scores a goal or when our goalie misses a catch.

        Elijah takes losing very personally.  He's very hard on himself.  I sometimes wished he was the kid who preferred searching for ladybugs over playing offense and defense at the same time. But that's not the way he's wired.  Since he was little, he's had this streak.  His babysitter from birth to age 3 used to tell me that his task-driven personality would benefit him in the long run.  It's just getting over the hurdles now. 
      More than anything though, it's hard on Kenny who had to step in as an assistant coach when no other parent would.   The picture below was taken after a game. You can hardly see Elijah because Kenny has engulfed him in a hug to give him time to gain some composure, to wipe his red eyes.  As a bystander, I've watched both of them closely.  I can see from a distance when Elijah takes deep breaths and his face scrunches up, and in seconds I hear Kenny's coaching dad advice to let it go. 

 













     

     

 I wouldn't say it's been a super fun season, and I'm glad it's almost over, but it's been a learning year.  Learning more about how to help coach Elijah through losses and disappointments.  And those learning years are always good ones in retrospect. Right?  Some seasoned parent with an older competitive child, please tell me I'm right.  We're just feeling our way.  Feeling our way through with lots of prayer, lots of laughs, and lots of giant hugs.