Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you’re two, turn around and you’re four,
Turn around, you’re a young girl going out of my door.
Turn around, turn around,Turn around, you’re a young girl going out of my door.
Oct 2001 & Oct 2006 ~ Santa Rosa Island – FL
FYI – I know what you are thinking when you are driving with me on the interstate – I know you see a white mini van with soccer magnets on the back and think I’m an easy target – you think you can get around me and squeeze into that space that is between me and the car in front of me. First of all, that space is so I have enough room to stop without sliding into the person in front of me. Do you really want to be in that space? Do you really want to be the person responsible for my diet coke spilling out of the cup holder? I think not. Mini van – full of kids – Mom driving passively – THINK AGAIN. The van is not full of kids and I am not above ruining your morning by driving alongside another vehicle and keeping you stuck. When you get on the interstate, drive like a human and I will return the favor. I choose not to drive 90, so I will move over and let you pass … BUT if you have been weaving in and out of traffic and cutting people off – you will not get by. As a matter of fact, I make it my mission to make you miserable. I will even pass my exit just to spend a little more time teaching you a lesson. When I learned to drive my Mother told me to make it a practice to let three people out per day. I still try to do that. Sometimes, I let three people out at a time so I can be finished for the day. Sometimes I let 18 wheelers over and count that as “2″. To all of the #4s out there, I apologize – today wasn’t your day.
So, the next time you see a white mini van on the interstate, don’t get any wise ideas. The woman behind the wheel is already one step ahead of you.
Each year the CLA PTO sponsors “Dad’s and Donuts”. This is a breakfast for kids and their Dad’s (or uncles or grandfathers). Chelsea and Scotty have been every year since Chelsea was in PK. Since the “event” is for PK – 6th grade, this was their last year. I was a little more goofy and emotional about it than they were.
First of all I should change the title of this blog to something related to soccer because it’s all I talk about anymore. Soccer practices and games are the center of what we do. Please don’t go all psycho on me and think God is no longer in the center of my life or my family. Just don’t go there. It doesn’t apply.
I’m a little defensive today of Chelsea and her soccer world. I know some of you think that working on her soccer 5 days a week and playing on the weekends is a bit much. I know some of you think that all of the soccer practice coupled with the conditioning training is not the right thing for someone who is 11. What some of you don’t know and what some of you don’t see is the love and the passion Chelsea has for this game. She is not practicing because we tell her she must. Yes, she gets discouraged and wants to quit early sometimes and we encourage her. But she doesn’t want to quit the game. From the outside you see a kid who is drinking her body weight in water and having 1 soft drink a week. She eats turkey, fruit and pasta and skips the fried foods (most of the time). From the outside you see us at extra practices and running ourselves a little crazy because of the soccer schedule. What you do not see is the little girl with soccer pajama pants and soccer t-shirts and soccer ball shaped cereal bowl. You do not see the wall in her room covered with LSU soccer posters and the cherished autographs of her soccer idols (Danielle, Kate, Chelsea, Robyn, Joleen, Suzy, Christine, Artie). Once a comment was made that Chelsea could sign Robyn’s autograph just like Robyn because she had it so many times.
Yes, she might want to run track one day and she might want to play basketball and she might even want to be a cheerleader (but I hope not!). All of those things (except the cheerleading) would be fine with us. But right now the little girl loves – and I mean eats, sleeps and breathes – soccer. She has a dream and that dream is to have a locker in the LSU Women’s Soccer locker room. She wants to play college soccer. She lists her dreams as #1 playing for LSU and #2 scoring a goal in a professional soccer game. These are her words and her dreams; not mine. I did not put them in her head while she was sleeping or send her any subliminal messages. She chose her own pre-game music – yes, the child has a pre-game warm up cd – and I did not sensor it. Shoot, she even now has a pre-game meal – steak and baked potato.
We support Chelsea; we don’t push her. Right now soccer is what she loves. I hope she stays focused and endures the tough times (6 minutes per game and a coach that doesn’t like coaching her) and lives her dream. Won’t it be so sweet when she is able to see the work pay off? Won’t it be so sweet to have her name announced on those crappy speakers at LSU? She is really looking forward to that. So to the nay-sayers I must say please stop trying to steal her dream. Come along for the ride and love her and support her and cheer her on. That’s what we intend to do.
While I have been trying to encourage Chelsea in soccer, I have apparently been encouraging her in the wrong direction. We show up early for games and practices. She practices “footwork” skills and tries to concentrate . I have always thought these things were a positive. I was wrong. Because of the ongoing soccer issues, I waited until after the soccer coach’s last practice last night to let him know he was keeping my child in turmoil. He doesn’t see her as a team player because before practice she is juggling the ball by herself instead of with her team. He doesn’t see her as a team player because I sit at practice. He commented that we (Scotty & I) are always early and we always stay. This means Chelsea talks to us instead of her team mates during her water break. (one water break during the 90 minute practice at minute 45) He doesn’t want her to focus, he wants her to play without thinking. He wants her to not pass the ball so much. He would rather see her keep it to herself and lose it instead of passing it away. I have been praying for the child to have clear thoughts and focus and remember what she has learned. All along I have been praying for the wrong thing. I should have been praying for her to forget everything and be selfish. “Competition should bring out the worst in her” he said. I don’t think being competitive is bad. I don’t think wanting to do better or go farther or push past your limits is wrong. But to hear him say it, “competitions should bring out the worst in people”, makes it seem wrong. I want to get ahead, but not at the expense of someone else. I want to get ahead of myself. Play a better game. Have a better day. Sell more than you. Because it’s a goal I set for myself, not because I want to show everyone the “worst I can be”.
The end result of the 90 minute conversation (no water breaks here) was that I understand what he wants. I just don’t agree with it. It leaves me puzzled.
