soccerball saturdays

to combat the approach of cabin fever and help aide in ridding jack of all his energy, he is playing "soccer" on saturday mornings. and i say it that way because it's really more about running around, hopping, giggling in excitement and every once in a while a direction and soccer ball are thrown into the experience. jack has made a new friend named kenny that he likes to hug until they both fall over. i guess i'm just happy to have a hugger and not a hitter.

our first day didn't go quite as i had hoped. as the class begins, i notice that i am the only parent participating while all the others are posted up on the side, giving blank stares into the group. with dylan strapped to my chest, i'm helping jack with the barrage of directions being thrown our way: dribble down there, put your foot on the ball, stand still as a pencil, now big as a tree and on and on. poor jack. he just took off running - in the opposite direction. eventually, we met back in the center circle to introduce ourselves. still, i am the only parent participating, and i signed up for the parent-assisted group. ah, well. around the group we go; taylor and my favorite color is blue. aiden, i like gween. then jack's turn. and what is your name? bob. bob. BOB! what a screwball. then i get to explain that no, sorry, he just really likes bob the builder. jack did manage to get out his real name and that he liked oh-wange. needless to say, the class continued with me chasing my son in the opposite direction of the rest of the group. and, all he wanted to do was to pick up the ball and run away as fast as he could. next time, i guess i'll enroll him in rugby...

as the class was coming to an end, one of the coaches pulled me aside and said, "you know, you may want to have him in the cottontails class. it's parent-assisted and he might do better with the 2.5 and 3.5 year olds." no kidding. confused, i ask what class this was and she tells me blankly, "hoppers" as if i was supposed to know. i laughed and told her that we were supposed to be in that other class. what a relief.

now, after we've had a month of this, jack fits right in with all the other boys and girls. there's kenny, who's just a few months younger than jack and they follow the 1-2 directions quite easily. then there's another little boy, who carries his jacket around like a blankie and does the exact opposite of what his mother tells him (been there); a little brown-haired, doe-eyed girl that cries the whole time, snot dripping out of her nose and all, while her mother yells at her to just play!; a toe-head, adorable round faced boy that is quite giggly and great at scoring goals. the class size has varied from 4-6 kids and most of the time, they all do well until that 30 minute mark. then i realize there must be this a.d.d.-type gas leaked into the gym because all of a sudden, no one wants to listen, play the games or follow directions. it's truly remarkable. and i love that for once, my kid just blends right in with all the other screwballs.