Soccer Mom Vibes

It’s obvious I am a rookie.  I don’t have the pimped out canopy chair.  On picture day, I was the mom rushing to fill out my order form while other “responsible” moms had their forms all ready to go (probably purchasing the most expensive package I’m sure).  And silly me.  It was my day to bring the team a snack after the game on picture day and without thinking, I brought RED GATORADE.  Visions of pissed off mommies entered my mind (hello! red lips for those expensive pics would not be ideal) so the kids got their snacks AFTER pictures.  The horror.

Luckily I know about two other moms with kids on my son’s soccer team.  Other than that, I am an outsider.  We are not a part of this “in-crowd.”  I am not a soccer mom.

From the time I could play sports, my mom played a huge role.  She drove me to practice. She made team dinners.  A water/Gatorade/snack was always waiting for me after games.  I wonder if she knew better than to get me red Gatorade on picture day.  She sat through rain, hail and freezing temperatures to watch my teams win and lose.  When we won, she celebrated with me.  When we lost, she listened to me bitch, cry and complain.  Sometimes she chimed in.  I played lacrosse in college. For four straight years, my mom did not miss one game- home or away.  My mom was (and still is) my biggest fan.  At the time I did not realize what a huge commitment she made to me and how much time she spent making sure that I had my uniforms washed, equipment ready, driving hours to watch me play…it really was a testament to how much she cared.

This past weekend, our timid and not-so-aggressive first grader (DJ) had his third soccer game of the fall season.  My hubs and I, along with the crazy threenager, set up our blanket (ok, it’s actually a two-person beach towel from Target) and busted out the snacks so she would sit still.  Most of the time was spent yelling at her to sit still, slow down, and stop crying.  SHOCKER!  The rest of the game was spent watching DJ score three goals.  THREE GOALS!  Ummm, we were not expecting that at all.  The last game he was in lala-land because his “girlfriend” from Kindergarten was playing on the adjacent field and he kept watching her game…SMH.

But watching him play is SUCH a cool feeling.  It’s exciting.  It’s FUN.  Being competitive and coming from an athletic family, it is *ALMOST* like reliving the “glory days.”  Not quite, but it is freaking awesome.

We lost it when he scored goal # 3 (a top right hand corner laser shot, thank you very much).  It was not captured on video, but I will NEVER FORGET how thrilled he was and the look on his face when he celebrated and high-fived teammates and coaches.

This weekend, I was telling my mom how cool it was to watch DJ play and how we were going nuts when he scored.  She said “see? that’s the way we would feel when we watched you play!”  It’s true.  Everything came full circle and I think I am going to love this soccer mom thing….for now.