I know Uncle Scott and Aunt Kathleen did not plan for it to arrive the day before the hurricane but I still give them full credit for their GREAT timing. Best belated birthday present ever.
We've signed Katherine up for soccer this fall. I'll be honest, this was totally a parental decision rather than a child telling us how badly she wanted to play soccer. We'd like our kids to try out a number of different activities as they grow and this seemed like as a good a time as any to start down that road. This league had a short season and seems to be focused on fun more than competition. Just right for this family right now.
Katherine heard the news and immediately started with "I don't want to play soccer, I want to play basketball." I chalked this up to my doing, since when she mentioned soccer earlier in the summer I thought we missed our chance to sign up with a different league and I told her that we'd try for basketball season this winter instead. Actually I thought she'd be excited when she found out that we didn't miss soccer sign ups. Not so much, she told anyone that would that she wasn't playing soccer this fall, she would be playing basketball.
Somehow, she very complacently got in the car and attended her first practice last Monday. And honestly it looked like she was having a blast out on the field. Not only that, I think the kid has some talent, more talent than I've ever shown when it comes to a sport involving a ball. On our way home she declared she didn't want to play anymore but we chalked that up to heat and exhaustion. But she mentioned it a few more times in the days afterwards.
We got to the root of the issue yesterday. When the tears of "I don't wanna go to soccer practice!" started, Ted was smart enought to say "Let's talk about this." Turns out the reason why she doesn't want to go isn't because she doesn't like it, it's because she feels she isn't good at. She had struggled with a few of the more detailed drills. Katherine is the type of kid that expects absolute perfection the first time she tries anything. And if she doesn't get that perfection she gets frustrated beyond belief and more often than not, gives up. I won't even begin to tell you about her experiences with jump rope last week. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know, I know. I can't help but look at her and think I know EXACTLY how you feel kid because I used to be just. like. you. Heck, I still get that way from time to time.
So because I know this, I feel that it is our duty to help her understand that learning new things takes time and lots and lots of practice. Doesn't matter if its soccer, basketball, art, dance...you name it. Your Mommy learned patience and perseverance and so can you. What does this mean? Yup, I am about to be THAT parent who forces their child to do something tonight. Because I feel like we can't let her give up after the first practice just because you couldn't do everything. All we would be doing is teaching her that when the going gets tough, you make yourself scarce as fast as possible. That's an attitude I can't endorse.
What else does this mean? There will probably be bribery in some way shape or form come 5:30 tonight in order to get our girl in the car and to practice. Did I mention that the field is right behind a McDonalds??????
No comments:
Post a Comment