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| Slushies for all, sometimes, not all the time. |
My kid loves Lucky Charms. And Slushies.
And so does his friend, who somehow made it to the ripe 6th grade age of 12 without every having been into a 7-11, and in one afternoon, I’m sure we rewired his neurons by introducing him to Slushies and the Beastie Boys all in one “play date.” Gag.
My kid loves soccer.
He plays day in and, if his coaches had it their way, day out as well. Because after we signed him up for fancy pants soccer to the tune of community college tuition (circa 1982), we discovered field time was allotted to 8-9:30 at NIGHT. On a Thursday. Which is great if he were 16, but he’s 12, and can’t stay up much past 8 and resemble the kinder, gentler kid we love. On days when he’s bouncing a ball of some sort, or blowing a trumpet, or making a video, or doing his homework much past 8, he miraculously transforms to an incoherent rabid dog in front of our very eyes: vicious and approach with caution only.
Kinda like Cinderella, except smellier with a cleats and lots and lots of Axe.
Nighttime soccer, no matter how good or how much he loves it, just will not fly.
So we don’t send him to fancy pants soccer on Thursdays from 8-9:30 pm. Nor do we send him to indoor Saturday night games at 10:00 pm in a mold-infested, non-OSHA-approved facility. Because even though he loves it, it’s too late for him, and frankly, after a week of working and momming, I’m not spending my Saturday night soccering.
Many other parents think it’s too late as well, but send their kids anyway, because the kids just love it soooooo much.
My kid loves Lucky Charms and Slushies. He loves them soooooooo much. But I don’t let him eat them day in and day out. Once in a while, sure. But not on a regular basis, because I’m the mom and he’s the kid and I get to make those decisions.
Parents: the soccer does not have you by the nut-sack. So release the grip you think they hold and parent your child. Because in the long run, waking up well-rested will bode well for algebra, reading and learning, which will get them a whole lot farther than a corner kick they’re too tired to watch go in.
ps: Real life application of my small town, quasi-redneck childhood: a pony will eat more than its weight in food if it discovers an open grain bin, then colic. Doesn’t know enough to stop. Just sayin’.
Those times are ridiculous for a 12 year old. I thought it was bad that my daughter has to be out to the fields until 8:30. By the way, I will give a slushie toast to soccer anytime!
Michelle!!!! I miss you and your writing!!! sending warm sunshiney thoughts to Florida! I’ll be by your blog soon for a catch up visit!
I do not get how we have let this happen. Really… I never ended up posting my rant about the 8th grade football team begging for money to go to Florida at church services and grocery stores, as was the plan because, thankfully we lost in regionals. Meanwhile people are out of job and need money to pay for heat. The insanity has to stop.
Let’s raise a thousands of dollars to travel thousands of miles to play the town next door. wacked.
AMEN!! I have many forms of this discussion all the time with my own RAH, who happened to have a sort-of-successful career in professional sports, and he reminds me he never played fancy pants anything until he was 15. Here again, money is the proverbial root of all evil. Between the bucks earned by the coaching organizations, and the bucks parents hope to save when their kid becomes a superstar and gets a free ride to college, adults have corrupted the love right out of the game. I bet video cameras would catch more kids whining and complaining about practices (late, or otherwise) than professing their love to be headed out to “play.” If enough of us would echo your stand, kids could go back to survival of the fittest on the playgrounds and in back yards.
My RAH says of overly involved moms&dads: “I bet that guy never made a team in his entire life.” And the best 8 year old is seldomly the best 12 year old, or best 18 year old. Eventually, the talent levels out and when it does, the kids are often cool with it, but the parents? Notsomuch. It’s sad, really.
lol you would love what happens to my almost 14 year old when she’s feeling over tired. she laughs like a mad woman. has done so all her school age life. at age 5 to 8 it was cute, now it’s just annoying. lol
Soccer practice for 6th graders until 9:30pm on a school night and 10pm games on Saturday? Insanity.
Stinky Cats
what’s crazy is there’s only 2 kids on the team that said no, and meant it. wackadoos in these here parts!
These decisions get easier and easier to make. Not the end all to miss a practice, game…esp when it gets your kid in the red.
And I’m all for 711, stadium and county fair food as these are not an every day experience to be sure. But some type of experience nonetheless. Still tryin’ to get my head around machine cheese though.
swim meets for some reason love machine cheese. Makes me gag a little every time!
Hello there we met on saturday at the auditions! Catching up on your blog and I love it!!! Thanks for being so kind on Saturday I really appreciate it!
So glad you found me! Saturday was sooooo scary, and equally invigorating!! Good luck to you; I heard someone say there were 60 writers trying out for 12 spots! YIKES! Will mosey over to your blog soon and can’t wait!
Soccer has us by the nut-sack. There, I said it.
Basketball and baseball have us by the….something less awful than the nut-sack. The ear.
So far, it has been a good thing, and nothing too late-night or crazy, so those hard decisions have not been faced. Hockey parents tell us otherwise, and I’m thankful all the time that I managed to dodge THAT scene.
The Boy (11) has trememdous fun with it, loves it so passionately, and is good at it. It’s true that the best 8 yr old is not the best 12 yr old, and so on—I’ve seen that happen, but often, those phenoms just go dormant for a few years, and then come out even stronger—if they don’t burn out, and if it’s handled with the kid’s best interest (not the parents’ ego) first. He (and The Girl now, also—a later-comer to the club soccer, at 13) has had some tremendous, fantastic coaches and met some great friends and learned a lot.
Academics are definitely #1, but I figure I’ll get my nut-sack back in a few years…for now, soccer can have it.
Melissa B
Nutsack,’eh? Ouchy mama!
I’m all for taking one for the team, and have done so repeatedly and will do so, now and again, until he ages out of the program. Or the coach kicks him out, cuz his mom won’t stop blathering away about it in her blog!