Marisa's Laughter Page
January 31, 2002 - I don't know how funny this one will be, but it's what's going on in my life, and I'm having a lot of fun!
No Soccer This Spring
At least, there will be no soccer for MY kids this spring. This wasn't really my decision. I announced that soccer signups were a couple of weeks away. My soon-to-be seven-year-old son groaned and said, "Mom, I'm tired of playing soccer. I've been playing for four years!" What he meant was four SEASONS, spring and fall two years. I guess that was enough for him to get tired of it, though. After he made that announcement, my daughter (age 9 1/2) said, "Well, if he doesn't want to play, I don't either." I insisted I would be more than happy to let her play even if her brother didn't. She still said no.
At first I wasn't sure how to deal with this. That night after the kids were in bed, I spoke to my husband about it. He said, "Well, good! That will be a lot less running around for us this spring."
I was worried about the kids' lack of physical activity. I played basketball during my childhood, and as the daughter of a baseball coach, my family's life had revolved around the baseball field. My husband, born with health problems, hadn't been athletic as a kid. Now, neither of us are in good shape; he's a bonafide couch potato, and I'm getting that deskchair spread. I wanted my kids to be more active!
"But does it mean we're bad parents if we don't have our kids in organized sports?" I asked.
"NO!" he replied. Then he commented that our son had only been playing because we wanted him to, because we'd told him he should. Our daughter, the social animal, signed up because a lot of her friends did. Neither one had demonstrated spectacular soccer skills, but that was okay - we'd chosen to focus on playing for fun rather than an all-out pursuit of perfection. Still, I didn't see the point in forcing either of them to play if they didn't want to.
The hubby then went on to say, "You know, if they had a climbing team..." He didn't have to say more. Our son climbs door facings, walks on the back of furniture, thinks nothing of getting on ladders. He informed my grandmother that he intends to climb up onto the roof soon.
Somehow that struck a chord in me. Climbing...hiking...outdoor, individual sports - that was the kind of stuff I liked to do when I was in high school and college. I hadn't gone on a real hike in years, mainly because since the early '90's, most of my time off from work has been spent with two people with little, easily tired, legs. Their idea of a long walk was going from one side of K-Mart to the other. But they're growing, and more able to keep up with Mommy's (well, it's Mom's these days) stride now.
So, I came up with an idea. A lot of people educate their children at home, but get them involved in public sports. The public schools in our district are great, so we've been happy to send our kids there, but I wouldn't mind doing sports with my children at home or other places, just TOGETHER. I told my husband I wanted to home-sport. He was amused, but supportive.
Our first home-sporting excursion was a little strange. I wanted to walk near a creek a few miles south of our home. I picked the kids up from school on my day off and we headed down the road. My daughter refused to go down the hill with us. She said, "Next time you want to hike after school, let me go home and get another pair of shoes." I agreed that I could've planned that better.
We had to go to another town near us that evening, so we went to their city park and hit the walking trail. Trail isn't really the right word - TRACK would be more appropriate, since it's a paved walkway. That was all right though. We had lots of time to talk and share details of our lives. This is awesome, I thought to myself. What a way to build family togetherness!
Since then we've only had one more good family hike and that was a little over a week ago. The weather conspired against us, with heavy downpours for several days; and then in turn each of my kids came home with strep. Hopefully, the coming weekend will allow us time to spend in a family activity.
We also decided to join the local YMCA. I use the term "local" loosely - locally there isn't much, and the closest Y is 13 miles away - but we have to go to that town several times a week anyway, and I think we'll get our money's worth. The Y has a climbing wall (perfect for both kids as well as ME) and several yoga classes each week. They have indoor and outdoor pools, and a sauna and a whirlpool. That alone would be worth the money for me! I think this will be good for all of us.
So...homeschooling may be the answer for some, but homesporting seems to work for us! More as it develops!
This page was started on August 23, 2001
last updated July 23, 2002
Copyright 2001, Rissy's Treasures