Sunday, May 18, 2008

mother's day, one week hence...

At 5 AM I was awoken by a foul smell...found that Thing 3 had experienced some lower GI distress in her sleep---hoo boy--what a mess. So at 5 AM, I've got a kid in the tub (exclaiming her delight in bathing---totally not cool pre-sunrise), two dogs who think they need to go outside for their morning routine... and two other kids threatening to get up and go hit Guitar Hero...

Ahhh... some well chosen words, some sophisticated vocal intonation and things were just about ready for me to go back to bed after disinfecting the bathroom... for another 30 minutes' sleep before Haley and I were scheduled to get on the way for her first-eva 5K run...

Girls on the Run is a new-ish international school-based activity program that is really more like a club than an athletic team, although the core activity is running. Each year the groups form up, prepare and run in a 5K but the sessions are equal parts esteem- and team- (esteam?) building. Haley has had a great time and I'm a big fan of the time spent focusing on healthy social and physical wellbeing.

But kids, that is TOTALLY not what was on my mind at 6:30 AM as I clutched my latte and wished I could go snooze in the car while the girls ran through their silly warm up games and were generally giddy... I mean, really; what the hell is up with these athletic gigs starting before the crack of dawn? How come they don't ever run road races say at 7:00 pm; after we've had a chance to read the paper and get our caffeine levels up? When we've done most of our lounging up front? Call me crazy, but aren't we supposed to be resting up on Sunday?

The starts were made, some brief chatting with other Moms and Dads and pretty soon, those kids started coming back in:


Some of you might not know this so allow me to tell you candidly: I am what you might call NOT athletically inclined. To see my daughter, to whom I think athleticism is not natural, really fiercely dig in and push herself to achieve through difficulty---it really moved me. I had to walk away from the other parents when she came in so they wouldn't see me tear up. SO proud of this little girl, I am. I LOVE being her Mommy. And she really does have a group of wonderful friends that became even tighter through this program.

In other sporting news, Haley and Anna played in their soccer league's semi-final match Saturday. This league we're in often has to collapse age groups to fill out teams so the girls' team had already taken the under 9 top-spot; this team had mostly 10 and 11 year olds---most of our players are 8. The other girls were huge and all season had been whipping the others with scores of 12, 15 to nothing. The girls were very happy to play a pretty tight game although they did lose 3 -1 .

Over the last two seasons, in particular, my girls have really come into their own: much better understanding of the game and their positions, very comfortable asserting their roles. Haley is really probably the best defender on the roster, and Anna? She's just a terror if you get between her and the ball (and she happens to notice; because she can be kinda clueless, too...) Last week, was a huge one because Anna had her first EVER shot on goal:

She's the red shirted one that ISN'T on the ground. So sorry she didn't nail it but it was an amazing effort; at one point plowing through 5 defenders on her own...she had her shot and wasn't going to miss the chance...! Despite it being thwarted, little Anna is on cloud nine and her game was REALLY on this week---she's looking for her next opportunity!

I grew up in the pre-Title IX era in a family where women really did NOT do anything sporty or even respect sports much. I think we all know what the consequence of that lifestyle is for the most part. I'm so glad that my girls are enjoying their team sports and accept athletics as part of their life. Maybe they won't have the odds stacked against them in managing the influence of weight, health and diet. If I could make that change in this generation of women in our family, I'd be very satisfied.

Knitting!
I've finished Charlotte's Web; the RSC March socks (Leafling) are nearly finished and I'm thinking of picking up a previously unplanned project to explore some really fine lace knitting! exciting times!

2 comments:

Special K said...

that great about your gals sportiness - I wish I'd learned to run as a kid - I never did and now find it quite unbearable.

Drew said...

I kept forgetting to write this...

I hope you are able to catch her first GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL
as well as you caught the first shot.