officially a soccer mom

and here is my soccer star...



Once Miss S realized they weren't going to let her play, she took Grandpa to the park...

So it has started...this was the first team sport event. And we were all so excited. Especially after last weeks rain out {no chance of that happening this day - it was a smokin' hot 39 degrees according to the thermometer in our car - how do people do anything in this crazy heat - and don't even get me started about the icky humidity...}

R happily put on his gear and we all headed to the field {including Grandma and Grandpa who are still visiting}. It started out great - R finally got the jersey he has been so excited about - and the coach let him pick his number! He told Grandma what number he was so she would know which one he was on the field. He warmed up, kicking a ball around...and then it happened.

He did not want to play. We could not get him to join the other kids. And I knew where we were headed because we have been thru it before with any kind of group situation - birthday parties, play groups, etc. I don't know what to tell you {probably because I still don't really know what to do in this situation}. I know he wants to play, i know how excited he was, but something makes him afraid to join in. I had a feeling this would happen when the day before at lunch R said "I'm a bit nervous". No matter how much we tell him it is just for fun, there is nothing to be nervous about, it's OK to be nervous, we will be there, etc, etc - we cannot talk him out of this fear {if that is even the right word}. It is so hard to see him afraid to do things that I know he wants to do... It breaks my heart to see him struggling and to not know what to do to help him. All I know is that we will keep trying, and see how it goes. Hopefully it will be a phase like the birthday party drama... Our plan is to just keep going to the soccer field and seeing if we can make R more comfortable - maybe he will have to watch from the sidelines for a bit before working his way up to joining in. Whatever he does, we will cheer him on.

It is only the beginning of the season, and the first big boy team sport. I just wish I knew what to do to help him...I don't really care if he plays soccer or not - I just don't want him to ever feel like he can't do something. I just want him to shine like the little star that I know he is...