Soccer Continued

Both little brothers found their way to the team blanket.

Papa and T, our future soccer wonder! :)

M had his first real soccer game on Sunday and we were hopeful. He counted down the days throughout the week, dressed early, and exuberantly ran around the field for the pre-game practice. He was fast and furious. And then it was time for the game...

Unfortunately, 10 seconds in he fell down and started crying. His soccer hopes were dashed all in the first minute. We brushed him off and tried to give him a good "'Atta boy. Get out there and have fun.", but he was a bit overwhelmed by it all. He decided to take a break for a little while on the team blanket. A little later the coach encouraged him to get up and come play--and guess who listened? :) We were so proud of him as he ran back onto the field and played the rest of the game. This is HUGE improvement from last year when he would have sat the rest of the time on the sidelines.

While back on the field he was then a little sheepish and ran around near his coach most of the time, but it was a start. Thank goodness he has such a great coach--we are already indebted to Coach Ed!! What a dear man. :)

This also supports a lot of my feelings about schooling up to this point. As some of you know, I've given a good bit of thought to homeschooling, but can't shake the fact that my children seem to respond really well (sometimes even better) to non-family instruction and mentorship. This should be celebrated!! They are people pleasers (surprise, surprise looking at their parents!). And I am always so thrilled to see their desire to perform and impress coaches, teachers, etc. School and sports seem to be the right place for them for right now!

We have another game on Saturday, so I hope to have good fun to report next week. The sky's the limit for our little M!