Soccer

A small thing, but worth remembering. Ben (4) says, "Mom, lets play soccer (pronounced saw-kuh)!" We proceed outside and begin to kick the ball back and forth. After a while he is trying to drop-kick and keeps missing or barely kicking it, and laughing about it. So, I drop-kick a somewhat high one into the air. By his reaction, you would think I had just scored the winning goal at a state championship. He is so proud of me and is in awe. High-fives all around! Eventually I have to take Charlie inside for a nap. Ben follows, waiting outside the door. As soon as I am finished Ben is on my heels ready to play soccer again. "I just have to switch a load of laundry and return one email, then we will go back out." He stands at my side while I do both of these things, waiting. Leaning on my arm as I email. I look at the clock and realize I'm running out of soccer time. Kids will be home soon from school soon, and chaos will ensue. He mentions soccer agian. I finally tell him, "Buddy, how about when Jack (9) gets home, you guys can go outside and play soccer some more." Slightly dejected look on his face, mixed with a little hope to play with his big brother. I am waiting for something to download, he is just staring at me. "Hey Ben, lets run outside and kick it around a little bit more while I wait for this thing to download." Ben: "OK!!!! I love saw-kuh, mom, and you are good at it, and I am going to practice....!" The smallest things make the hugest difference with my four-yr-old. If I just can keep that in mind, I'm golden...And actually, it seems to be true for all my kids at all their ages, so at least I get to hold onto this phenomenon for while longer: Scotty (11) revels in getting time to tell me the full extent of his stories he is writing, Jack was thrilled to teach me some guitar last night, Elaina didin't even mind doing homework because it was with just me, and Charlie only wanted mom after his nap, and all he wanted was to sit on the sofa together. If I could add about 10 hours to my day, I could give a little more of this full-attention to the kids and at the end of the day perhaps my laundry would be done, and my kitchen wouldn't look like a bomb went off. But really - that's a small price to pay for the "moments." And the kitchen never looks at me with a big smile and high-fives me for a job well-done anyway.