Soccer!

Malcom is getting bored at home these days, and he's been in some serious need of hanging out time with kids his age. I thought that spring soccer would be good for him. So we signed up, and he was sooooooooo excited.

He was excited to pick up his little uniform, to play with our little soccer ball here at home, and we counted down the days until his first game (the preschool leagues have games ever Thursday and Saturday: practice is before hand for about 20 minutes, and then the game lasts about 30).   

Finally, the big day came... and Malcom woke up with a stomach ache, then puked all over my bed. Yay.  I kept a close eye on him all morning, and he seemed to do much better as time went on. He ate a mass load of chicken nuggets (I figured if he didn't throw that up we were passed the sick-phase), so I let him go to speech therapy at 1. He napped afterward but was awoken too early by his little brother... and unfortunately was about as grumpy as a little 4 year old could be. Malcom has a hard time with new things usually, but when he doesn't get enough sleep or he's feeling a little unwell, there's no way he'll willingly participate in a new activity.  

I really didn't want to miss the first game (especially because I didn't know how else we would know how everything worked or when things were going to happen). We picked Ben up at work and headed to the soccer field. 

Fake smile for mom, yay!

There were tons of teams playing in little mini-soccer fields, it was fun and hilarious to watch some of the little kids playing.  We found Malcom's team (Team 6, or Amelia Earhart Preschool 2), he got about 5 minutes of practice, and then he was out on the field playing.  

Team huddle

First kick off

At first things were well, though he was obviously a little overwhelmed and confused. 

It went downhill from there...

Eventually he just stood there and started crying. His coaches were incredible; they helped him over to the sidelines to us, where he sat and cried for the rest of the game. Poor kid, it was not a good day for soccer. The coaches were nice and said that he didn't have to play that day, and that he could just try again next time. (I have to mention that I was impressed by the other little boys on his team. Seriously, some of those kids have some mad skills... and how!?! They're all only 4 or 5 years old!)

We tried to turn things around a little after and stopped at a DQ for an after-game treat. Positive reinforcement, right? haha. 

It was a bumpy day, but it turned out well. Honestly, I think it was Ben that really turned all the frowns upside down. He is so good at staying positive and cheerful, even when things get a little frustrating like they did at the soccer game. I'm so glad he got to get out of work and come with us!  

Now for some one-on-one soccer practice... hopefully the next game will be much smoother. We're still proud of him, even if he ended up sitting out 80% of the game. It's hard to try new things sometimes! Love you buddy!