soccer mom

so here's the thing.  the title of "soccer mom" has always signified to me someone who had actual kids instead of toddlers and babies, who had her stuff together enough to know how to sign her kid up for organized sports, and who is not constantly in a state of moving/packing/unpacking/being preggo/having a newborn and so could actually fathom staying on top of games and practices and snack schedules.

i'm so not that mom.  in terms of having her stuff together and being able to stay on top of schedules, that is.  oh, and i still have babies in addition to the kids.  a lot of times it feels like i'm the only one.

case in point of the former, mikey had a game scheduled last saturday at noon.  on friday night, we got an email from his coach regarding a game time change.  phil and i each got this email in our different accounts, read this email separately from each other and both came to the same conclusion: that this game was moved to later in the afternoon.

so we enjoyed our saturday, gallivanting around one of our old 'hoods, enjoying lunch as a family, stopping by a few places, and finally moseying on back home.  got mikey ready for his game and off he and phil went.  i got a movie started for the girls and laid jonah down for a nap and was all ready to enjoy a quiet afternoon.  until i heard mikey running back inside the house.

turns out, the email was for NEXT WEEK'S game which we clearly understood once we both reread coach's email.

and yes, we were the only two parents to have misread the email.  unfortunately, we are married to each other so neither of us could catch the mistake.

and did i mention that it was our family's turn to bring the snacks for the team?

yup.

oh, did i mention we're new to this neighborhood and this might possibly not be the best way to make new friends?

i so do not have my stuff together.

yet at the same time, i have this eight year old boy in my house who i just feel bad for.  we haven't been able to sign him up for afternoon activities because of extended years of needed nap times for younger siblings and their exhausted mommy.  he hasn't been able to do soccer or little league or basketball or pretty much anything ever since outgrowing afternoon naps himself.

and he's never once complained about it.  but that hasn't stopped my mommy guilt from kicking in big time every time i hear what his friends have been up to or see their athletic skills developing.

so ready or not, stuff together or not, we signed him up this fall!  not only for soccer, but also piano lessons, and continuing swim lessons, and tae kwon do.  what the what?!  this may or may not be a contributing factor to my current crazed, forgetful, loopy state.  but darn it all, i gotta let him get out there and try new things!  so bring on the craziness.  i embrace the crazy!  i am the crazy!

huh?

"the fire-breathing dragons" team huddle.

grouped by age, so he's the shortest kid on his team.  wah.

but at least he's got the biggest cheering section!

i gotta say, i am so completely proud of this kid.  he walked into this situation not knowing a single other kid, pretty much not knowing how to play this game at all, and yet has given it his best effort, coming at it with his usual great attitude.  it was intimidating for me as a parent to walk in to this new situation and my kid handled it waaay better than i did.

go, mikey, go!

keeping close tabs on the game?  not really.  i think they were there mostly for the snacks.

he's all about the snacks.

but maybe we can get this one started a tad bit earlier in all this soccer mania.

a little father-son bonding time.

trying to walk that fine line between being encouraging and also giving pointers (lectures) to your kid.

meanwhile, the girls found ways to keep themselves entertained.

there was once a time not too long ago when she was the one needing a little assistance.  and here she is now, all growed up!

and when there were popsicles for the dragons after the game, the big brother came over to share his with the little brother.

which just totally made his day.

so while mikey may never be a star soccer player, he's totally a winner in my book.

i love that kid.