The First Game

Topher began his soccer career on Saturday.  

We were so excited.  We LOVED how he looked in his shin guards and soccer socks.

We got there at 10 am, right on time, only to find out that our coach told us the wrong time.  So we had to kill 3 hours (shopping and lunch), and by the time we got back to soccer at 1 pm, I could tell Topher was very tired.

But despite being rather timid with his kicks, he seemed fine during the warmup:

He was even fine into the game for awhile:

Was I worried about the ambient noise?  Yes.  But really, he was fine.

Until the crowd's first big cheer.  And then the first loud whistle.  Combined with the tiredness.

Meltdown.  Run out to the car and dig some ear plugs out of the glovebox.  They are adult size, so I tried my best to roll them up tiny and shove them into his ears.

It worked for a little bit.  Maybe too well, as he seemed to be in his own little world.  He couldn't hear the coach and he appeared to be dancing when all the other boys were fighting over the ball.  (This is when mommy slaps a hand to her forehead and shakes her head back and forth.)

But when finally, the ear plugs began to fall out and would not stay in, we had to give up.  He was inconsolable.  And then screaming when we carried him out.  I haven't seen him so upset and tired in a LONG time.  It was very sad. 

So we went home.  We rested in bed for 30 minutes until we were calm again.  We made a plan to make next week better.  We will do three things this week:

1.  Practice kicking the soccer ball out on a field with daddy

2.  Find child-size earplugs that reduce noise without creating total isolation

3.  Pray before the next game (this was Topher's idea and I love him for it)

So to recap our first foray into sports: show up excited, deflate when your game isn't for 3 more hours, get really tired waiting for it, play okay for awhile, meltdown at the loud noises, try to recover, meltdown again, leave the game early.

Topher, I'm sorry that was your first experience.  Sometimes a first try at anything can be a little rough, even for adults.  We will do better (all of us) next week.  I'm still--always--so proud of you.

Love, Mommy