Something I thought I would never do

It is funny how we plan our lives, how we think we know ourselves and are arrogantly confident of the decisions we make today and the decisions we *think* we will make tomorrow.

I didn’t have all the details mapped out for our parenting and homeschooling, but I made the decision early on that organized team sports would not play a role in our lives.  Organized team sports are not inherently wrong, of course.  Time with my children just felt precious.  And short.  And there are so many, many things we want to experience with them before they grow to adulthood and leave our home.  Regular team practice seemed like an interruption and a vacuum of our family time.

However, on this Saturday morning, when I am usually baking bread and catching up my To Do List,  I went to soccer practice.

I sat in the morning sun and watched my 3 guys on the field  —– Sid, Sidney, and Lincoln.  Sid has discovered that coaching soccer is fun and relaxing to him.  Sidney and Lincoln are slowly learning their power.  These untrained-in-sports boys are figuring out that they actually matter on the field, that what they do and don’t do influences outcomes.  I, the completely sports-disinterested woman, am discovering the joy of watching the metamorphosis of my boys on the soccer field.

While I watched Sidney learn that he is a force to be reckoned with, my Prairie runs up to me, “I have been on an adventure!” she says.  “And I brought you presents.”  I hold out my hand and receive the gifts of a rock, moss and a tiny pear.

She runs off again to “climb mountains” with her sister, Rachel.  I watch the girls run up and down the steep hill, wishing I had my camera to capture the image of  these fleet-footed fairies.  One graceful, red-haired fairy girl ran down the hill and across the field, leaping and jumping, chasing a dragonfly.

I turn my head and see Lincoln block the ball, sending it down the field in the opposite direction —- and I remember that his scoliosis has dramatically improved since starting soccer.  The chiropractor said the best thing Lincoln could do is exercise, exercise, exercise.

The sky is blue.  The grass is green.  The air is warm.  My boys are playing hard with their coach Dad, while my girls have their own “adventures” on the sidelines.  And I sit here doing absolutely nothing except breathing, watching  . . . . . . .and delighting in my children.   The manly coach is delightful in a different way.

This is the best Saturday morning I have had in a long time. 

I never thought I would become a soccer mom.  It isn’t at all what I thought it would be.