Soccer

Briggs decided that he wanted to try fall soccer again this year, so he just finished up his 6 week soccer season a few weeks ago.

Briggs enjoyed the kids and coaches on his 2nd/3rd grade soccer team this season.  A few were friends he already knew from church and school, but he also made some new friends throughout the season.

Briggs improved with his soccer skills (especially compared to last year's season), but he still wasn't very aggressive about going after the ball.  He would kick it if it came to or near him, but was more hesitant about kicking it away from other people.

He never scored a goal (or even took a goal shot), but there were a few times that he kicked the ball for several consecutive kicks as he was running down the field.

He only played goalie once during the season, but alternated between playing on offense and defense.

Briggs continued to learn throughout the season and enjoyed himself with each game he played, although he did note that he wasn't sad when the season ended.

I'm not sure if soccer will continue to endure for Briggs, but he had another fun season playing with his friends, learning new skills, and enjoying after game snacks.  We'll call that success!

Parenting Milestone #801

I forgot to pick up Briggs after his Stage Kids class on Monday.  Thankfully a mom friend noticed and called me.  But really, eleven and a half years of never forgetting a kid somewhere is a pretty good run.

Question of the Day

Is bribing my kids with candy every time they practice their piano poor parenting in which I'm teaching my kids that they require external motivation to accomplish their goals...

or is it great parenting in which I'm providing consistent positive reinforcement that results in a desired outcome without strife?

Either way, they are practicing way more without my constant reminders, so I consider it a win.   

Not a Sad Good-bye

Today I got rid of all our cloth face masks.  Our abundant supply of masks saw us through the craziness of the past 2.5 years.  The pile of masks encompassed all the various styles and types we purchased or had made for us to find the most comfortable, cutest, best fitting, most stylish accessory to pair with our every outfit.  We always grabbed one as we headed out the door for school, the store, appointments, vacations, and community outings.  There were always extras stored in the car, my purse, backpacks, and coat pockets for the inevitable times that we'd forget. Of course, this pile does not include the many that were lost or left any number of different places or those that were tossed when they were past their prime.  It seems almost surreal to bag them up and remove them from the house.  

For almost two full school years, our masks were prominently stored in the mud room by the shoes and backpacks and mask lanyards, easy to grab as we left the house each morning.  Once masks were no longer required at school (in about February of this year), they were moved to a less prominent area in the laundry room, still easily accessible for those activities and places that still required them.  And although we do still keep a small supply of disposable masks in the car for doctor's appointments and for me to wear into work, our endless supply of cloth masks is no longer needed.  It was such a strange period of time as we navigated the novel world of covid.  The masks are a reminder of that time.  And as life returns to pre-covid normalcy, we still have all the memories and pictures and stories and blog posts about that time when our "new normal" was anything but.  We can never forget all that happened in our world and in our family during that time, but it's nice to finally be talking about it in the past tense...and to clear one more piece of it out of our home.

It's a pile of memories, but it's not a sad good-bye.

Truth

There are things I love to do.  Washing windows isn't one of them.

Family Milestone #355

We went out to dinner the other night.  Our family polished off a large pizza and an order of breadsticks without any leftovers to bring home.

And they aren't even teenagers yet!

Magical Moment

Over the course of the past two days, I straightened and organized all the rooms, cleaned our entire house, folded and put away all the laundry, and emptied out the recycling bins.  For one brief magical moment before anyone ate anything, dropped anything, wore anything, spilled anything, tracked in anything, played with anything, recycled anything, used anything, or touched anything, I reveled in the blissful feeling of cleanliness and completion.  And then...life resumed and the cycle started all over again.