Day Is Done

Saw this sign the other day...love it!  Two of my favorite food groups: coffee and wine.

It's been that kind of weekend...busy and somewhat stressful, too.  You can tell that we are entering the transition zone between the winter and spring sports seasons: we had two rounds of basketball yesterday and three of soccer today.  (And we are getting signup notifications for spring baseball, too--thankfully that ain't happening now that we have three soccer teams to juggle this spring instead of only two!)

Thing One's team won their basketball game even though the poor kid couldn't hit a bull in the behind with a basketball that day--thankfully, at least he did manage his usual stellar defense.  Thing Two's team was once again scrimmaging Petunia's, which is always a disaster waiting to happen from an emotional standpoint, but with a little careful management (i.e., not putting the two of them anywhere near each other on the court!) we had no tears or trauma when all was said and done.  Then, after the scrimmage was over, one of my kindergarteners came up and gave me a thank-you card on behalf of the team.  There was a gift card in it, which was beyond thoughtful, but the sentiment was what got me...this is the first time I've been a head coach, and I've felt like I was bumbling and faking my way through more than a few times.  Hearing that the kids have been telling their parents how much fun basketball is and how much they are learning completely made my season (and left me choked up like a bullfrog.)

Thing One had a tryout for a summer league soccer team this morning, which apparently did not go terribly well (I was home with the other two and didn't see it.)  Luckily the coaches handling the tryout know him well and presumably know that he had an off tryout, but I felt bad for the kid.  With his anxiety issues more under control now than they have been for a while, we struggle with signing him up for anything that would put more pressure than necessary on the kid.  He said he wanted to try out, though (direct quote: "I'll be BORED this summer if I don't have soccer!") so we'll see what happens.  Fortunately, his usual Sunday evening clinic went very well, which I only care about as far as his confidence is concerned--he was in a much better mood when he came home after that one.

Thing Two had his third travel team practice tonight, and this time I was the parent who accompanied him.  I was very glad to find that one of my taekwondo classmates also has a child on the team (Himself didn't recognize her out of context) and the icing on the cake was that Thing Two's close friend from school made the team as well.  I know much less about soccer than I should considering that I've been watching one of my kids or another play the game pretty continuously for a good seven years now, but to my untutored eye he looked like he was right in there with his teammates skill- and behavior-wise.  It seems like he has been 'different' for his whole life, and my prayer for years has been that he manage to acquire the language and social skills necessary for him to blend in better.  And not because I care for me--because I care for him, and I don't want him to be that odd kid who nobody wants to play with.  Even letting him try out was a leap of faith, and there is still a thornspiked ball of the old fear in my gut about this risk (should I be dreading taking my son to a practice when he is perfectly happy about it??), but we are going with it and giving him the benefit of the doubt.  May we not regret it.  

Oh, well.  The sun has set on the weekend, and for all the promise of potential drama, little of it came to pass.  I guess I should just be grateful for that and move on.

Gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hill,

From the sky.

All is well, safely rest.