i think connor will be an athletic kid, but he has yet to find his sport. i have encouraged the typical little boy sports: soccer, t-ball, swimming, taekwondo...but all i've ever gotten is major push back. he has said he hates them all, but that's not surprising since he has strong feelings about everything (he either "hates" or "loves" things, he is rarely lukewarm about anything.) but over the last couple of years, he has talked with great enthusiasm about playing football. since i had never heard of anyone playing football before middle school in oregon, i kept miserably pushing soccer.
well, now that we're in texas, i've found that football starts young here! boys can play at four, which is ridiculous. but a couple of weeks ago, i signed connor up for a much anticipated 3-day football camp for 7 & 8 year olds. as i sat at a picnic table with a neighbor and some other moms watching (and melting in the 100+ degree heat), i asked lisa about the regular football season since her son had played last year. nothing out of the ordinary - when did the season start? did her son enjoy it? did she feel he was old enough and tough enough at 7?...
then, i must have asked the silliest question in all of the south. "so do the 7 year olds play tag or flag football?..." suddenly, from behind us, peels of laughter. i turned around and naively asked, "what?...why are you all laughing?..." the reply? "girl, this is texas!" stupid me. apparently it's tackle in full pads by 7.
i am nervous. my son is a lot of wonderful things, but he is also well...honestly, a crybaby. for instance, today ross and i both wanted to strangle him because he wailed so long and hard about how much his front tooth (that was literally about to drop out of his mouth) hurt when he touched it. on and on and on...crying a river. mercifully, it finally came out mid-afternoon so we could all go on with our day. i have a feeling the tooth fairy may come up short because of how truly annoying he was. anyway, my thought is that if he doesn't have the maturity to realize the sky isn't falling when you lose a tooth, can he really deal with being dog piled on without claiming he's the victim of a hate crime?
6 comments:
love this post, i laughed out loud. would love to been there when the woman said "girl, this is Texas"
ha ha ha!! maybe he'll take all his aggression out on the field (instead of on your dinner menu) and then he'll come home and eat his broccoli and carrots with no complaint. this could be a good thing?
Well, if full contact football for 7 year olds is indicative of what it means to be from Texas, then that explains the states voting record (don't show this to my brother).
Don't let them smash his head up too much. He will need that at some point.
I don't think Rick will be playing football too early on--maybe lacrosse. That's safe right?
Seriously, though, are any of the sports all that safe?
We played tackle without pads when we were kids.
By the way, Lisa and I love the hate crime line. You are a witty genius, Millie!
Millie, don't I count as a friend from Oregon? Zach started playing football (yes, in full pads, contact) in third grade, at age 8. Guess we just never discussed! It's a major commitment! Hope Connor loves it. Claire is missing Riley.
I've heard how the Texans love their football. Hopefully Connor loves it too!
P.S. I'm not sure I'd be tough enough to watch my kids PLAY football though!
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