It's Not Like the Backyard

We decided Warren was at a good age to try an organized team sport.  So, we registered him for Itty Bitty Soccer at the YMCA.  Last night was our first night.  Let me just say that it reminded me of the adorable Publix commercial, where the little boy is playing in a soccer game, while the mom and dad are watching.  He watches balls go blazing by, as he concentrates on the shapes in the sky.  The dad is just utterly frustrated and says "Boy, it's not like the backyard, is it?"

Well, no it is not.  Up until last night, Warren had been very excited about playing soccer.  He was excited when he found out he got to wear shin guards; he was excited when he found out he was on the yellow team; he was excited when he found out he should wear his "fast shorts"....he was not excited to play!  After we realized Chris would not be able to make it, because he would be taking Harper to the doctor to check for croupe, we loaded Warren up in the car, crying.  I convinced him that he didn't have to play, we would just go watch.  After a little persuasion, he reluctantly went out and started kicking the ball around, until it was time to get started.  Then, every time he was not handling the ball, he was on the sideline giving me a hug and a kiss.  For 45 minutes, the children worked through different centers with drill-like activities, where they were asked to "shoot" and "dribble" and "pass."  Well, while Warren has kicked a soccer ball many times, he was not familiar with that vocabulary.  So, when the ball was kicked to him, he picked it up and ran it to the coach, who kindly said "Oh, thanks buddy, but this is soccer.  We've gotta use our feet."  In the "dribble" activity, one little boy picked the ball up and started dribbling, like a basketball.  Again the coach said "Good job, buddy, but this is soccer.  Dribbling is with your feet."  So, with that the boy picked the ball up and started jumping on it, trying to dribble it like a basketball, but with his foot.  (You can catch a glimpse of Warren's participating in the video....when you see him swinging his arms around...imagine that for the next 3 minutes after the video ends.)

And while that was all very cute, the not so cute part was the parents.  I was utterly shocked by the competitiveness of the parents.  I was surrounded by parents yelling...to their 4 year old...."Come on, T, get your head in the game!"  or "Emory, keep your eye on the ball, now, focus on the game!"  Really?  These are 4 year olds.  What happened to just kicking the ball and running??

Needlesstosay, Warren didn't have a super great time...partly because he missed participating in half of the activities because he was too busy giving me hugs and kisses.  But, we are going to go back and try it again next week.  We're not quitters.  Maybe we just need to "get our head in the game?"

Opposites Attract

Our boys could not be more different.  Warren is very thin and growing taller.  He is very structured and likes things to be just "so"....I don't know where he gets it from?  Harper is, well, not so thin.  He is very hot tempered and hilarious!  We went through a long, difficult time getting Warren to eat and gain weight when he was younger.  My my how times have changed.  We've just started getting notes from school for Harper that say "Harper really loves his food."  or "Harper ate two meals today."  Finally, his teacher stopped me and said "Mom, you've gotta send more food."  Yesterday, after he had an afternoon snack when we got home, the boys started to color.  I look over to find Harper eating the marker.  (And yes, instead of grabbing the marker from him, I grabbed the camera.) 

Uh oh

This past Saturday was beautiful!  The weather was gorgeous...what better to do than take the family for a walk around Lake Hollingsworth.  Or, so I thought....

Warren was all set to ride his bike, while Chris and I pulled Harper in the wagon.  Let me just tell you that Warren, while small...is mighty!  He is very fast and as such, he would ride on ahead in front of us, while we lagged behind pulling Harper.  As we approached Florida Southern, Warren started to turn around to ride back to us, when his front tire slipped off the sidewalk.  Faster than Chris could run, Warren (holding tightly to his shiny red bike) headed into the lake.  He raced down that hill, flipped over the handlebars and landed in the lake, on a pile of dead bushes.  Chris leaped in to pull him out.  Meanwhile, Harper finished eating his and Warren's Cheeze-Its, drank all of his juice then proceeded to pour Warren's out on top of him.  Good times!

Tough Questions

I'm in the middle of some tough conversations with Warren lately.  Sunday night, after we finished reading in bed, he started crying because he was scared.  I reminded him that he didn't need to be scared, because God and Pops were watching over him.  Then he said he was crying because he missed Pops and he wanted to sit next to him and eat lunch.  Well, of course I started bawling too.  Thus began our week.....

Tonight, he started crying again.  This time, because he missed Dickens (my mom's dog).  He asked me where Dickens went and I told him that Dickens was up in Heaven.  When he asked me why, I told him that God needed Dickens up there with Pops.  Warren started bawling.  He said he wasn't ready to go to Heaven because if he did Harper was going to miss him. 

I knew that this precious little four year old.....my precious four year old was doing some serious thinking and this was a defining moment.  As gently as I could, without bawling myself, I told him that people don't go to Heaven until God is ready for them.  And that he doesn't need to worry because I don't think God is ready for him up there yet.  

I also told him that when people go to Heaven, it's a really great place....people in Heaven are never sad.  So, we are sad here because we don't have Pops, but Pops isn't sad.  And that if we went to Heaven, Harper probably would be sad because we weren't here with him, but we wouldn't be sad in Heaven.  With that he turned over and fell right to sleep.