The boys stretched with the team, ran with the team and then started drills with the team. And now comes the part that is sad. On his second snap, Luke completely lost his footing and fell backward with his feet in the air and his back in the mud. Imagine the classic banana peel slip, only it's not funny because it's your sweet, precious boy who is already stretching his comfort zone. Luke lost it. Completely. He burst into tears, ran to the sidelines, and refused to join the team for the remaining forty minutes. I had tried to buy him cleats the day before, but we were unable to find a good fit for either boy at the one place we visited. Oh, how I wish I had persevered in that hunt.
Meanwhile, Paul is doing okay, but the cold is starting to get to him. By the end of practice he is in tears, so cold that his teeth won't stop chattering. That's when I remember that he's wearing short sleeves under his coat. Oy. I needed to fight that battle this morning and I failed to do so.
The ride home is an unhappy one. They hated nearly every minute and I'm really struggling with feelings of embarrassment and disappointment, not in them so much as the situation. I had been looking forward to the boys' participation on a team, learning a sport, and all that fun stuff. I have no delusions that they will be professional athletes someday. I just wanted them to be part of something bigger than themselves and have some fun.
Upon arriving home, I bounced off the house to do the grocery shopping for the week. I left Erik to deal with the aftermath which involved a bath for Paul, whose teeth finally did stop chattering and a complete change of clothes for Luke.
Grocery shopping is always therapeutic for me. Of course I began my trip thinking, "Well, it doesn't really matter that my children behaved abominably. We will never see any of those people again. Ever." I know. Selfish and small. I have never claimed to be anything other than a work in progress. Very slow progress - like two steps forward and one step back. Strolling the aisles buying cereal and pasta, I quietly asked the Lord what I was supposed to do. By the time I left Winco I was considering the thought of taking the boys back next weekend.
When I arrived home, both boys were chipper and ready to talk. We explained to Luke that we want him to learn to persevere even in the hardest situations. We know that cold, rainy football practice isn't really a difficult life situation, but it is the toughest thing my six year old faces right now. Luke seemed to get it. We also made a plan for next week's attire. It's okay to triple layer. We even had Luke practice wearing three shirts at once. Lastly, we are going to purposely layer ourselves and practice being outside in the rain this week. As a homeschooler, I set the schedule, I choose the activities. We will be spending 45 minutes outside in the rain this week in preparation for next week's practice and game. This was Daddy-Man's idea, and I think it's brilliant. We will also buy some cleats.
After our family meeting style conversation, the boys wanted to put all their gear on. Jerseys, wristbands, belt with flags attached, and mouth guards. Then they went downstairs with Daddy and practiced running around while he tried to pull their flags. They had fun together. This is what I had been hoping for. Will they be able to transfer it to the field next Saturday? Unknown. Will we try again? Yep. Not because we are parents who have it all together and think that our kids will be perfect or even better next time. More because we have a God who grows us and our kids through the trials we face, big or small, and He is good even when our circumstances are not. Besides, if the boys improve even one tiny bit, we can rejoice and give God the glory. Stay tuned for that possibility.
A few pics were taken before the tears began. Here they are:
Paul is in the dark blue with his back to us and Luke is in the light blue with his profile to us.
Stretching
Luke's first snap - he did great.
Paul's first snap. You can't really tell, but he's grinning.
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