So you're going to be a soccer mom...

 

Today was Shaan's first soccer game.  As you can tell from the look on his face, he's a natural-born athlete.

I could tell that he was really excited that Shikhar was going to be his coach.  Despite the fact that he has been horribly ill all week, Big Daddy sucked it up and took the field with the rug rats...because he's AWESOME.

 

So, by default I guess I became "team mom".  Now I'm not going to pretend like there is much to this job...send around a sign up sheet for snacks, get the names ironed onto the jerseys, maybe an email or two...

Honestly, I think soccer at this age is more a chance for kids to get to run around outside and feel like people are EXCITED to come see them DO SOMETHING...And as a bonus we get to take pictures of how cute they look in their little uniforms so we can later use these photos in their graduation photo montage. 

For Shaan in particular, I thought this was important.  It seems that his older brother, Sonu, is always having the new experiences and eventually Shaan just gets lucky enough to tag along.  It felt nice to do something that was all about him.

 



So, how did it go?  Well, as you might imagine...a crowd of preschoolers trying to figure out which way to kick the ball.  At one point I know our team had too many kids on the field, but one was just running in circles around her dad (also on the field)...so I'm not really sure if she counted.  And the game ended as expected...called on account of too many kids crying and/ or refusing to play.  Gotta love it...it was a glorious 16 minutes.

 

And I know we aren't supposed to keep score.  But we MAY have won...thanks to the single solitary goal scored by this handsome soccer star above.  I'm just sayin'.  

 

And the coach, he's a natural.  I love watching how he goes out of his way to make sure everyone feels like they were awesome. 

And while there is still very little actual SOCCER involved in my SOCCER MOM experience I couldn't help but pause for a minute today to think about how much life has changed. 

Having actually arrived early to the field (imagine that!), we took a minute to drive by my husband's old high school (Creighton Prep) which was nearby.  The school he was attending when I met his adorable little 17 year old self.  

It doesn't seem so long ago...until you see the freshman sitting outside...and then look at us --in our mini-van, with our three cuties in car seats and baby girl on the way.  We have jobs and responsibilities...and our idea of a big Saturday is the 3 year old's soccer game. 

 

But, alas, maybe growing up isn't as lame as I once thought it was.  And...if you think about it...I got to spend at least part of my Saturday hanging out in front of Prep with four good lookin' guys that I'm pretty sure REALLY like me. 

 

And I would think even my 17 year old self would be excited about that.