Soccer mom? Not so much.

Every mom likes to think that their toddler is talented, but the difference between them and me is that mine actually are. seriously. they can run for days, kick the heck out of a ball, and bench press their own weight. (ok, so i've never actually tried the last one. but i'm willing to bet i'm right.) so naturally, we decided to sign our naturally talented kids up for soccer.

well, one of our kids will literally try every single activity that is ever offered to him. he'll say "sure" to everything, and will most definitely have fun doing it. he loves his life, is way too young to even think about being self-conscious, and has not a care in the world about what people around him are doing. he loved every second of soccer.

our other one (the whole reason we even considered soccer in the first place) also loves all sports. little did we know that this only applies to those sports played in the confines of our yard with people whom he knows he can beat. he's older, more introspective, and more cautious than his brother. when he first walked in to the sports arena, he took one look around and said, "wow. i never wanna leave this place". here we go, i thought with an eye roll. i am officially an SUV-driving, (soon-to-be) suburban-living soccer mom. you have got to be kidding me.

not so fast. as these soccer-whiz-kids dribbled the balls up and down the field, my kid stood on the turf and wildly kicked the ball toward the goal. it didn't go in, and he got pissed. he left the first class saying he was never going back. but he did. the running games were fine. the obstacle course was fine. picking a snack out of the vending machine at the end was fine. but anything involving a ball was a problem. finally, by the end of the session he had had enough.(well, who are we kidding? he was done half way through the first week.)he spent more time on the sideline watching and not listening to us try to talk him in to trying it again than he did running around. but when he ran out on to the turf, we thought maybe we had turned a corner. and he did run for a minute.and then he kicked the ball and missed the goal again. this time he stood still in the middle of the field and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I HAAATTTTE SOCCCCCER!!!"

ok, so maybe my kid isn't the little athletic prodigy we thought he was. (or maybe he legitimately just hates soccer.) and as for me- well, i may drive an SUV, and i may be moving to the burbs. but it looks like i'll have to wait to call myself a soccer mom. trust me- i'm ok with that.