with scout playing on both a recreation and competitive soccer team,
he is on the field practicing field 3x a week with games and or
competitions on the weekends {the games are my favorite part}.
with all the running scout does, he has grown lean and strong.
my 8 year old reports he has a 'six pack'. this is apparently something
the boys talk about on his team}. seriously?? *sigh*
i am quite certain scout could beat me in a long distance run now too.
in addition to becoming more fit, soccer has given scout so many other
intangibles: more focus, discipline, confidence, courage, patience and resilience,
and something to call his own. it is truly one of scout's greatest passions,
and has been for well over a year now.
he is borderline obsessed.
with all the field time he's getting, he still wishes for 2 hour practices every day,
and he religiously follows the sport professionally. he prefers the european leagues,
specifically bayern munich and germany's national team. here's an example of his
dedication: because of the time difference between europe and the US,
the games are often in the early hours here on the west coast.
scout will set his alarm clock to wake him at the crack of dawn
{and often before dawn}, so he can watch his favorite teams play.
he gets upset when finn has surf practice/competitions and he has to miss some of
the game because he has to ride in the car with me to drop his brother off at the beach.
he'd love to stay home alone, but our rule {for now} is he has to be 12 years old.
if scout were our 3rd kid, maybe by 8 years we might be just fine leaving him.
as it stands, he's our second child. the magic number might shift to 11 in a few years,
but for now it stands as 12. {honestly, i'd have left finn at home alone for short windows
at 10 but c felt 12 was more appropriate}.i think it depends on the child...some 12 year
olds might not be ready.
i digress, i jumped on to my blog tonight so i could record some memories of
my youngest's spring 2016 soccer season. his team name was warriors,
and sunday was his last game was this afternoon. they lost, but it was to the best team
in the rec league in his division. it was expected. the boys played hard and scout
only shed a 'few' tears after the loss.
i think he remembered that coach o'shea was handing out trophies after the game.
the frozen treat from yogurtland took a far second to that.
the best part of the season for scout was simply getting more time on the field AND
meeting a new friend, patrick. with scout's best friend moving to barcelona for a year,
scout is making a conscientious effort to make more friends...specifically one good friend.
he identified this boy halfway through the season as a kid he would like to be friends with
{he's very selective}. if i had to handpick one of the boys from the team, he was it.
so when scout asked if he could come over for to play, i reached out to the mom the same day,
and we had a play date set for the next day. {i don't use this term 'play date' in front of the boys anymore}.
apparently, they are WAY too old for that. they prefer i use 'hang out'.
*sigh*
patrick is the oldest of 3, a full year older than scout and is very mature, which is
probably why he gravitated towards him. patrick's mother, who i had only met a handful of
times on the soccer field, had no qualms at all about dropping him off at our home.
when i offered her a cup of coffee and invited her to stay and see the home environment,
she said "oh, that's not necessary angela, i've met you and your husband and your kids.
i trust your family". oh how i loved hearing this and i love mothers who go with their gut,
don't helicopter and aren't anxious. their kids are more confident and simply easier to host for
playdates or sleepover. anxious parents make anxious kids.
some highlights of scout's days with the warriors...
