First soccer game

Fisher started soccer this fall and had his first game on Saturday. Unfortunately Todd was unable to make it with me since he was off golfing and watching BYU play in Florida so Cooper and I went to support Fisher, just the two of us.

Initially Todd and I were a little nervous about enrolling him since he is a really competitive little boy who is somewhat of a poor loser. I thought he would become upset if he did not always have the ball or if someone was faster than him.

What I saw at his game was a complete and total shock to me.

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The game started off a little rough since he did not get to play from the beginning. He kept asking me when his turn would be and I told him to stay patient. It was a little odd feeling my momma bear instincts flare up thinking the exact same thing as him- "When are they going to let him play?" In the end it was completely ridiculous because they gave him plenty of playing time.

To keep himself occupied he (and a couple of the other kids) decided to weed the sideline. They were pulling up so many that the coaches eventually went to find a bench where the kids could sit and be away from the grass and weeds.

I could fib and say that the whole game looked like this with Fisher right in the thick of it all...

But reality was that he spent a lot of time biting his nails, picking his nose and wandering off in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be.

He spent a lot of time picking grass and observing bugs.

At other times he would just randomly wander off the field to come sit with me or his coach. In other words, he was completely detached from the game. No competitive edge, no interest whatsoever in having the ball or trying to play with the other kids. This is not a bad thing, just very confusing when compared with the typical behavior we would see on a day to day basis. Mind boggling in fact.

After a personal break from the game, the coaches encouraged him to try out goalie. I was a little worried for him since I don't know that he knew what he was supposed to do. Thankfully two of the coaches were out there telling him where to stand and what to do. Well, I say thankfully but Fisher decided to tune them out as he does his parents and teachers and remained uninterested in participating, so it would not have made much difference if they left him alone to figure it out. Playing in the net was a lot of fun though. When the kids approached and tried to make a goal, he back all the way up and turned around pretending like he had no clue what was going on. I have to admit that I felt the momma bear instincts go up once again when some of the parents were making comments on the goalie.

I think I was just as relieved as Fisher when the whole ordeal was over. I named this picture "Best part of the game" for obvious reasons.

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I don't know that I am ready for my kids to grow up. It is scary and I have not had a chance to figure out the whole parenting thing in the almost five years I have been doing it. Especially parenting Fisher who is a giant mystery to us. Fisher playing soccer is an even bigger one. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out what it was about the whole experience that made him so passive...not that it is a bad thing. Just VERY unexpected.

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Here is what the Coopster did while we cheered on the big brother. He is whining in this picture, wanting out of his stroller. All he does during the practices is try to run on the field so I kept him locked in for the whole game despite his protests. On a side note he is now 15 months old as of today!