This summer we decided to put Diesel in soccer. Even though he's only three, he has a lot of energy, and with me staying at home during the summer with the kids, we had to find a way for him to use that energy. Plus, David and I firmly believe in sports and extra-curricular activities. Well, his soccer team consists of twelve 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. The games are 30 minutes long. They had one practice before the season (just to introduce the kids to each other). Diesel's cousin, Jaxton, is on the team, and there's also sweet little girl named Megan (she goes to Diesel's daycare) on the team. David and I (mostly me, I admit) were so excited about him playing a sport that we even went and had shirts made. We made a Diesel's Mom, Diesel's Dad, Diesel's Brother, Diesel's Grammie, and Diesel's Papa shirt.
Well, the first two games were pretty stressful on Mom and Dad. David and I are very competitive people. It's hard for us to watch Diesel goof off during the games. We immediately expected Diesel to be a star and score all the goals. Heck, that's why we had shirts made. We wanted everyone to know that the star was our son! After the first game, my throat hurt from all the screaming. I wasn't necessarily screaming bad things, I just wanted my boy to focus and get in the game. Diesel was more interested in chasing his cousin, Jaxton, around the court. There were even a few times we had to run out there and pick him up from rolling around on the court. You see, in a three-year-old league, parents are allowed to run next to or behind their kid to encourage them. We also began bribing. If he scored a goal, he would get ice cream from Braums. We told him this before every game. Even though he never scored a goal, we still took him.
On June 21st, at 6pm, Diesel had his 3rd soccer game. His 3rd soccer game ever. We expected the same outcome as the other games. The one difference was going to be that his cousin was on vacation. We knew there was going to be one less distraction for Diesel. We, once again, bribed him with ice cream.
The game began. It was 100* and no airconditioning. A lot of the kids refused to play, so we pushed Diesel to play as much as possible. After about 5 minutes of playing, we could tell he was already tired. In order to keep him playing, I told him I would stand out on the court while he ran around. I think he feels more confident if he knows his parents are near. Diesel got the ball, and I began to cheer him on. He kicked and kicked and ran and ran. He ran to the goal and kicked it in! GOAL! As soon as he did it, he turned around and ran to me with his hands in the air. I picked him up and swung him around. As we turned around, I noticed Dad had jumped up and ran onto the court in excitement. At that same moment, we saw that Grammie and Papa had just walked in the gym. All 4 of us we standing and screaming for Diesel. He had the biggest smile on his face.
Well, he earned ice cream and there was still half a game left. What to do? Sprinkles. "Diesel, if you score another goal, we'll get you lots of sprinkles on your ice cream." What did he do? That little boy went out there and scored another GOAL!
Now he had ice cream with sprinkles. What should I bribe him with? There's only 5 minutes left in the game, and his team needed another player. "Diesel, if you get another goal, I will take you to the lego store tomorrow." He looked at me and said, "I'm too tired. I'll go to the lego store another time." I accepted it and sat down with him. I was so proud.
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