Whew. What a weekend. It started on Friday evening with Evan's 1st soccer practice. You may recall from my last entry that Evan was really pumped about soccer. However, his enthusiasm faded when we got in the car. By the time we got to the soccer field, he had a full-fledged tummy ache. My first reaction was to be really irritated and frustrated, but that was not helping matters at all. Here's a brief account of the events:
5:10 - arrive at Columbia Seminary field for 5:15 practice
5:11 - ask other moms if any of them are there for the Silverbacks practice (answer is no)
5:12 - call neighbor to find out if I have missed a memo regarding a scheduling change (leave crazy message)
5:15 - coach arrives and starts setting up for practice
5:20 - Evan tells me he has to go potty; ask another mom if there is potty nearby (answer is no); other mom suggests tree; I tell her it is not that kind of potty emergency
5:30 - leave soccer field in the car to scout out an open door at the seminary
5:35 - finally find open door at seminary
5:37 - Evan pees a teeny tiny bit and says he's done; I fuss at him for making us run all over creation only to decide he no longer needs to go
5:38 - Evan doubles over crying that his tummy hurts; I tell him we'll just go home
5:40 - back in the car to go back to field to retrieve soccer ball we left behind when we embarked on potty quest
5:45 - my nurturing side kicks in: I sit with Evan under a tree to try to get at the reason we are not playing soccer; my suspicion of "nervous tummy" confirmed; give pep talk; sit patiently and wait
5:50 - Evan decides he might want to play after all
5:51 - coach calls for water break after Evan has been on the field for 1 minute
5:52 - water break ends; Evan refuses to go back onto field
6:00 - practice ends and Evan's tummy miraculously feels good enough to go eat mexican food for dinner
Here's what I learned: 1) I am not as naturally nurturing as I would like to think. 2) Nurturing is way more effective than fussing in this type of circumstance - no matter how bad you want to blow a gasket. 3) We need to build confidence over the coming week so we do not have a repeat performance (non-performance) next Friday. Corin took Evan to the soccer field at Candler Park on Saturday and tried to teach him a few things. I am useless in this arena since I never played soccer and have no appreciable athletic skills in any event.
Saturday night, my parents were kind enough to keep this kids for us so we could go to the String Fling, which is the big annual fundraising gala to benefit the Center for Puppetry Arts. Since Corin is on the board, we were able to invite several guests. We invited a group of folks that I've been friends with for years and don't get the opportunity to see nearly often enough. It turned out to be a really fun night. I am so grateful for the kind of friends who can pick right up where you left off however many weeks or months ago that you saw them. I've linked a few photos to the left.
Today we went to the puppet center for a Muppet Movie sing-along with the kids. Basically, the showed the movie in the big theater and handed out props that you are supposed to use during various scenes in the movie (e.g., like a little rubber frog that you are supposed to pull the legs on every time the movie talks about frog legs). It was a little sophisticated for our kids, but Evan seemed to enjoy the overall experience. Pressley, who took no nap this afternoon, was antsy and eventually had to be removed from the theater. It was a fun experience anyway. I enjoyed belting out "Rainbow Connection" and "Movin' Right Along" (made possible by having the words displayed on the screen). I'm just dorky that way.
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Amy, nervous tummy reminds me of Allen's 1st swim lesson at the YMCA in '96 when he was 4. My dad, the nanny for 7 years, took him. At end of my workday, I was so excited to hear how 1st lesson went; my dad said "do you want to tell her or shall I?" Granddad had to tell me - Allen didn't even get his suit on. He cried all the way home to Lawrenceville and I learned one of those nurture lessons. He was scared to death (neither parent is a swimmer)so a promise was made for a beach trip the next summer with his 3 & 5 yr older cousins, if he took lessons. It worked. By the time a week at the beach was over you couldn't get the child out of the water. Thanks for jogging a memory.
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