Last night I took Nick to sign up for his first year of football........TACKLE football, mind you. You know, where other boys - many of whom will be twice his size - will have as their primary goal to attack and maim my first born. Hmmmph. The fact that I willingly signed him up for this has me a bit puzzled. My goal in life since the day of their births has been to protect my sons from harm, and those who know me well know that I can quickly turn into "mama bear" at the slightest smell of danger where my kids are concerned! The only explanation I can think of for allowing him to participate in this deathtrap is that somewhere deep in my psyche I realize that he is growing up. He's going into 5th grade, which here means he enters middle school. Wow. How did THAT happen? But he's pretty excited about playing football, and can I just say how CUTE he looks in his shoulder pads & helmet?!
The boys both just finished baseball - Kyle played his second year of Tball and Nick played "10 & under" Little League. Nick did an excellent job pitching and covering first base for most of his games. Kyle did great wacking the ball off the T and working on his 'form' in the outfield. He has a great arm and can throw far. Both boys concentrated very hard and did their best, I was very proud! I was especially impressed with Nick and his teammates this past weekend, as they played an all-day tourney in pouring rain!! Not one of them complained, as they played on through the rain till the end. (I can't say the same for those of us parents who were watching the games - I must say there was quite a bit of whining and shivering going on.) Note to self: watch the weather report in the future so you don't wear a sleeveless shirt and shorts when it's going to be 60 degrees & rainy ALL day : /
So now, here we are approaching the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year in just a few weeks. Kyle, my "baby" will be in 1st grade, and as I said Nick will be in 5th. Sigh. Who said my boys could grow up????
Oh, I know all of this TOO well! But, there's no holding them back! Even through the bone-crunching tackles that cause us parents to wince and catch our breath, there's a part of us that cheers them on and jump out of our seats when they make a good play! I'm proud of you Nick! Hit 'em low...hit 'em hard!
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