“Stretch your hands up, then touch your toes!” Coach Jo instructed. All of the kids obeyed. All except for one. Mine. Next, Coach Jo shouted, “Run to the fence and back!” All of the kids ran. All except for Graham, who quietly stood on the sidelines looking slightly confused and somewhat amused. Hmm… Perhaps we should have started this whole “formal instruction/coaching” thing earlier.
I’m sure I had the same expression on my face when my fellow mom-friends told me that they were taking their 18-month-old babes to gym class and their two-year-olds to dance class: slightly confused and somewhat amused. What’s a toddler going to learn in gym class, I thought? Well, apparently, they learn how to take instruction from someone other than their parents. Because while my kid was playing with his shirt collar on the soccer field, all of the other kids were touching their toes and kicking soccer balls as Coach Jo told them to.
Now several weeks into soccer class, we’re picking up steam. There was one occasion in which Graham kicked a soccer ball into the goal. He also managed to steal the ball from another kid once. Admittedly, it was with his hands and there may have been crying involved. Regardless, I’m glad I finally signed him up for a skill-based class, and now I can definitely see why others started taking their kids earlier than I have. Yes, I can admit when I’m wrong.
Which isn’t to say I’m eager to be a bon-a-fide soccer mom, hauling my family all over town every day of the week to different activities. I still believe that a child should be allowed to have free and imaginative play on their own terms. Which for Graham, at age three, involves playing ball while singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Jazzy Style.” Because according to Graham, everything is better when you jazzy it up.
Here’s to learning the rules of the game, occasionally striking out on your own, and every so often “jazzy-ing it up.”
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