Rox and Roll

The story of this picture

It's a rare day when I post even the hint of a picture of my kids on my blog.  I always want to respect their privacy and don't feel that sharing images of them is necessary; friends can see them on Facebook.  But this picture makes me so happy that I had to share it with the world.

The goalie in the green pinny is my daughter, Petunia.  You can tell from the picture what happened: she's cradling the ball because she just made a terrific save.  The girl from the opposing team looks crestfallen, and Petunia's teammate is cheering for her. 

I'm so grateful that another team parent preserved this moment for eternity, as this picture also speaks volumes of Petunia's story.  She has played socccer since she was 4, and she always loved it, especially being in goal.  But her skills needed work, and, over the last year, she's really worked hard to become a better all-around player and a better goalie.  It used to be hard for us to be in the stands watching all of the team, Petunia included, make countless errors.  We supported her playing her favorite game, never expecting that we'd be raising the next Hope Solo, and never caring -- as long as she was having fun, getting good exercise, and enjoying being part of a team.  But now we're experiencing something new: other parents cheering for her.  Her teammates running out to hug her as she comes off of the field at the half.  Lots of high-fives, big smiles, and save after save after save.  She's playing the game really well all of the sudden, and we're not the only ones noticing.  So this picture, it marks a season in which the team is still winless, but the scores are a lot lower because Petunia is doing an awful lot of ball-stopping.  Her hard work is yielding great results, and, in her story, I find my own motivation to try a little harder, to stretch a bit beyond my limit.  And above all, I've remembered that believing in oneself is the greatest motivator of all.

Petunia: way to go!  I'm so proud of you.  Love, Mama xo 

The Mom in the Stands

Yes, my blogging has been slow, slower and slowest in recent weeks.  What DO I do all day?  Let's see: Drivekidstoschoolvolunteeratschoolcoffeelunchmeetingtrytosavetheworldlaundry kitchendishesdogwalklibrarydutypickkidsupmusiclessonsbasketballsoccerguitar baseballhomeworkdinnerstoriesbed.

Yep, that about sums it up.

Sweet Baby Jeebus, nobody told me having two school-aged kids would involve this much driving.  You might as well put a big target on the roof of my van, since I'm responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer.  Some scientist may want to track my emissions.  I feel so guilty that I want a Prius Van.  I would say I want a Prius, but it wouldn't hold nearly as many fruit leather wrappers, "lost" water bottles, misplaced shinguards, and jackets.  And a basketball that rolls... and rolls... and rolls... testing the frontier of my sanity.  (Mental note: make oldest child remove basketball from third row seat tomorrow.)  A mom recently said to me, "That's why my kids plays violin, plays only violin, and doesn't do these sports thing.  Violin is alone activity.  Teacher comes to the house.  We don't have to leave home."  I thought she'd follow that up with a flippant "Duh, winning!" ... but she didn't, even after I prompted her.  (And now, she stands a little further away from the classroom door and nervously backs away from me if I step too near.)

Anyway ... raising athletes is loads of fun, and I really love how sports affects them in a positive way.  They always get exercise, have great attitudes, healthy habits, and friends with the same interests -- lucky kids!  Both kids just wrapped up a basketball season; for Dash, it was his first.  It was his first "frolic up and down the court, skipping and attempting a cartwheel at times, rarely if ever handling the ball and guarding my guy even when I'm on offense" season.  (He won't play basketball again -- just not his thing.)  For Petunia, it was her second season, also the second in which she stomached me as her coach.  Girl's got game, especially on defense.  She's not afraid to back-that-truck-up, box out, pivot, and even shoot -- and score!  Our team this year was super-special, too, so I'm sad that my coaching career the season is over.

But that means it's time for ... coach-pitch baseball (Dash, of the Reds) and soccer (Petunia, of the Red Storm)!  Baseball means cheering for my little slugger (and man, does he ever slug!) and hiding from the other soccer parents ... wait, NOT THIS YEAR!

This year, in her first game, Petunia spent the entire game in goal.  We've been sending her, with a friend, to weekly private goalie coaching for a few months now.  We're not making her do this; we offered her the opportunity, and she seized it, having declared soccer her greatest love at age 4 and ever since.  She's been working hard.  And frankly, she needs the work.  She's not the fastest on the field, and she seemed timid in goal last season.  She could use to build both skills and confidence.

Well, timid no more!  My girl stopped 20-30 shots on goal, holding the other team scoreless.  For the first time ever in my life, I heard parents whispering in the stands: "Who's that girl in goal?  She's good!" -- and, though it took a few minutes, I realized they were talking about MY KID!

Look, I know that I'm supposed to believe that my kid is The Best At Everything.  But when it came to soccer, sometimes my time in the stands was spent praying hard that she didn't screw up (again).  She loves soccer so much, but for years, it didn't seem to love her back.

But now?  Now, it's a whole new ball game.  Leaving practice today, her coach asked me to come over and talk to him.  He told me he feels like something has "clicked," making a point that it wasn't just in goal -- she was faster and more skillful on the field, didn't choke over errors, and did better in every single practice.  He said she's the most improved player by far (giving me a little chuckle -- she probably had the most territory to gain there) -- and said he feels like she's a huge asset to the team now.  She's clearly figured out how to play this game she's loved for 7 years -- and he was clearly amazed.  

I'm not.  She's my kid: The Best At Everything.  ; )

Spending Memorial Day with America's favorite pasttime

Today, the Guv and I checked off another first: the kids' first major league baseball game.  We hoped on the CalTrain's FanTrain, which runs from the Guv's office straight to the ballpark.  You can't beat door-to-Giants!  No one was more excited than Dash, as the little man already knows every major league baseball team's city and logo as well as whether they're National League or American League.  He's rationalized that we can root for the Giants (NL) as well as the Yankees (AL) unless they play each other in the World Series, in which case, the Yankees trump all.  And he was born despising the Red Sox, like any good son.

We had a blast on the double-decker train, as we caught one with the four-seaters facing each other on the way out; Dash hadn't been on CalTrain yet, and he had a blast checking out the passing scenery.  Throngs of people made their way from the 4th/King Station to the ballpark, where we quickly picked up our will-call tickets and headed for the entry ... only to find out that, even an hour ahead of the game, the t-shirt giveaway had run out.  (And I patted myself on the back for not hyping that to the kids.)  We scurried around grabbing up lunch for us all before settling into our Arcade seats, which, I have to say, I wouldn't repeat.  It's a nice stretch of the AT&T ballpark with seats between the park and the cove (where kayakers await home run balls), so we thought the seats would be extra-fun -- but didn't count on the hoards of standing-room ticket people who would hang out there, blocking the great cove view.  It's also hard-to-access benches, not individual seats (which, at this park, have cupholders).  That all wasn't a big deal, though, as the view of the field was pretty crisp, and the people around us all came and went often enough that they weren't annoyed when the kids wanted to get up every half-inning.

The game started with a beautiful tribute to the troops (and more were interspersed throughout the game), and then the Rockies proceeded to beat up the Giants in what should have been a pitching duel, except for Tim Lincecum's decision to suck today and to put a lot of people on base.  The Giants didn't score because the Rockies' pitcher held them -- no men on base, no runs!  I'm not a fan of either team, really (though my allegiance is with the Giants), but, seriously, that game stunk. 

We left between innings 7-8 when Dash had decided that he'd had enough on multiple levels.  After kicking over my Coke in the first inning (blast you AT&T park for not having lids!  kids need lids!  and cupholders are needed even in the bench seats!), Dash wanted one thing after another: a pretzel, cotton candy, did somebody say ice cream?  Where'd you get that camo hat!  Ooooh, an orange foam finger!  Why can't we have a boat out in the cove?  I need some sodaaaaaaaahhhhhhh...

So, I finally told him that if he couldn't sit still and watch the game -- because I actually enjoy baseball and wanted to watch it un-whined at for a bit -- he'd be punished by having to attend a Red Sox game at Fenway.

The kid cried so hard that we had to leave.  I am bad and punished, he says.  And I do feel a little extreme.

It was time to go anyway -- a line had already formed at the CalTrain station, and the train on the way back was raucus, and, thank God, express to San Carlos, just a few stops away from us.  There is no such thing as a bad day at the ballpark (well, unless you're at Fenway), but here are the lessons we learned:

1) When going to AT&T Park, get a seat with a cupholder.  Take your own cups with lids for kids (and maybe even for yourself), as a host of people around us had spills like us.  (The park doesn't allow lids or straws, with few exceptions like prepackaged lemonade.)

2) Especially when attending with kids, sit somewhere where there's easy entrance and egress.  This is not the arcade area.  Club level (company seats, usually) may be worth it if you can gain access to them just to have fewer crowds and less chaos.

3) Do leave the game early to get a seat on the train home.

4) Take kids to minor league games until they're "old enough," which will vary from kid to kid.  Dash, at 5, wasn't ready for the Big Leagues yet.  Next up: San Jose Giants.

And take a moment, on this day, to remember why we did this: we chose to commemorate Memorial Day by partaking in America's favorite pasttime. On this day, we remember those armed forces members here and gone who have or would give their lives for our freedom -- even if it's freedom to threaten your kid with Fenway or to deny an orange finger.  I'm grateful to live in this great country and thank the brave men and women in our armed forces for their service.

And the light bulb goes on...

I have some friends who, like me, are at-home moms with a mere two kids, and yet, they have nannies.  There are some whose life situations necessitate it: the kid who takes dance class three times a week an hour away, the other family who has a special needs child, etc.  But there are others a lot like me (minus my medical issues, I guess), who don't have any "exceptions" and still outsource some childcare.  I don't judge them for it -- hey, if I hadn't just quintupled my mortgage, I might try to buy some more me-time too!  But I fundamentally didn't understand it until both kids started playing sports this week for the first time ever.

Petunia's first-ever softball season is upon us, and Dash's first-ever t-ball season is here, too, on top of everything else.  Beyond school, this week involves: a Girl Scout meeting, two big cookie order pick-ups, two cookie booths, two dental appointments (both kids), one guitar lesson, one medical appointment for me, one shift in Petunia's school library, one stint co-oping at preschool, and five -- FIVE -- softball/t-ball practices and games.  FIVE.  This is on top of some major extra homework for Petunia including the science fair the following week and a month-long book project in the works.

And the Guv's heading to NOLA to golf.

And I'm sick.

And I'm working.

And now I understand why so many of my friends have nannies with "only" two kids.

I'll get through it the old-fashioned way; I can send Petunia along to softball with another parent at least one of the three times.  When I have to be there, I can sit and relax on the bleachers, coordinating the snack schedule for each team and maybe even squeezing a little work-planning.  (My "real job" work will get done while the kids are in school.) 

What I don't know how we'll handle is the seven times this season where the kids have to be in the same place at exactly the same time.  Sometimes, the Guv'll be around to help with that.  Sometimes, not.  I'm going to have to get a lot better at carpooling!

In any event, this is all good stuff, though: stuff I signed up to be doing, not stuff I don't want to handle.  And that will make the difference between me keeping my sanity (and my health) solid through this manic upcoming week.  It's a great thing to see both kids enjoying sports, something in which I wish I'd have participated more as a kid.  They love it, and I love watching.  These are the times I'll remember, I believe -- not the chaos of running around so much as the big, huge smiles that come from their joy. 

And their joy?  That's what it's all about, not in small part because it's a big source of my own joy.  So let's play ball!  I'm ready!