Soccer 2015

With much excitement, we signed CC up for soccer again this year. After last year's debacle, in which she absolutely refused to participate for the entire summer, anything would be an improvement, right? With a year of preschool under her belt, and being a year older, we were sure she would participate like all the other kids, learn how to work on a team, and develop her competitive instinct.

Outlook not so good. Despite a lot of big talk leading up to Saturday, CC burst into tears upon arriving at the field, and I had to do all the exercises with her, holding her hand. Towards the end she relaxed enough to let go of my hand (I told her I wanted to take pictures of her), and I was hopeful that she was warming to the idea of organized sports. But after it was done, she said "I don't ever want to come back to soccer again."

Water breaks: CC's favorite part

On the way home, she commented that another girl on the team had cleats, and she wanted some. I told her that only girls who listen to their coaches and play soccer without their parents get to have cleats. So now CC is back on the soccer bandwagon, full of big talk about next Saturday.

This year we also decided to enroll Little Man in the same soccer program. He's a pretty social little guy, and is very physical. Sure enough, he loved it. He followed directions, had fun kicking a soccer ball around, and especially loved when the coach told the kids to kick over all these orange cones:

(Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSJOWSQQ-Yw&feature=youtu.be)

We opted not to sign Sweet Pea up for the soccer program, though, because she is very attached to me, very shy, and very unsure of herself in group situations. Why waste the money?

But much to our surprise, Sweet Pea joined Little Man in the 2-year-old class, helping herself to a ball and doing all the exercises right alongside everyone else. Unfortunately, the class is full and has a long waiting list, so in the future we'll have to bring our own soccer ball for her to play with on the sidelines.

See Sweet Pea in the background, following directions so well?

She joined the huddle, too!