How a season can change you...

I've made no secret of my difficulty of getting into my son's first season of tackle football. I gave in and let him play a year earlier than I swore I would ever let him. He is typically one of the tallest boys in his grade, and in this league he is the youngest and next-to-smallest player on the field. He's playing with and against kids who have a good 25-30 pounds on his small 68-pound frame.

It has really had me on edge.

But, what really didn't help things was my disconnect with the other "football moms" on our team. From my first practice, I knew I'd have trouble meshing with this group. Typically, I have no trouble at all with that.

What I saw were parents that were entirely too into their children's sports activities and I felt like they were taking it all entirely too seriously. There were window sticker decals for the cars, t-shirts with your child's name on the back and the real thing that sent me over the edge--a HOMECOMING party with requests for gifts for our cheerleaders.

I just found it all silly considering this is a team of 3rd-5th graders. And, I openly mocked it on a regular basis to my husband.

Slowly, both my son and our family have gotten used to this different sport. The intensity, the multiple practices a week for longer periods of time than we've ever had practice before. My son has played t-ball, baseball, 5 seasons of soccer, basketball and now football, so it shocked me at how hard the transition has been really.

But, lately, I've felt like I'm finally starting to get it a little more. I've seen benefits that football has brought to my son. He's the youngest on the team, but has earned a lot of respect and even a little popularity with his teammates because he's actually been pretty darn tough. A huge kid will lay him out in practice and he pops back up again and again without complaining. This is a child who has really had trouble being too sensitive most of his life.

I've seen him realize what hard work means, how it feels to be on a winning and a losing team, and how you can really improve your own skills with hard work and practice--something that piano lessons just didn't seem to do for him (as I'd hoped it would).

Today, we had a game experience unlike one I have experienced in a great while. And, through it all, I think I've changed a little.

And...that, folks, is your teaser...come back for my next post where you will find out just what happened at our last game!

How you know you've watched too much of the Olympics...

...when you flip it on to synchronized swimming to make fun of it and then remained glued with your kids for the rest of the competition, making comments like "Wow. That's really amazing. How do they do that?"

Then, later...when rhythmic gymnastics comes up, you do the same (Ok, I did fast-forward some, but I am a former competitive baton twirler and some of what they do is quite close to what I saw/attempted growing up--minus the Cir-de-Soleil like body contortions, that is.)

If you love both of these events, please do not flame. They are just normally ones that are easy targets, I think. Even my son said of the swimming, "Mom, I don't like their hair and why are they wearing all of that blue eye makeup?"

And, all I could think to myself was, "Oh, my... if he'd only seen photos of me from my senior year of high school..."

Last thought...

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt...man or freaking dyno-speed machine of perfection? Wow...