Soccer!

It was a surprise to the whole family when we unexpectedly gave our fall over to weekends full of soccer games.  It started with Brennan who was thrilled to discover his school had started a new soccer team for third and fourth graders.  Brennan's new interest in soccer sparked something in Aidan, who out of the blue decided he also loved soccer and must play for the school's JV team.

And so it began.  We are a soccer family.

Our first game was Aidan's JV game.  We were late.  Of course.  When we arrived at the fields, Aidan's teammates shouted with joy that he had arrived.  I kid you not.  They literally shouted with excitement and relief that Aidan was there to play goal.  One of the other mom's from their school turned to me and said, "Thank goodness you are here.  My son says Aidan has to play goal."

Um, okay.  He does?  

This is one of those moments that I love as a parent.  A moment when you think you know your kid, but he does something that truly surprises you.  Truly just shocks everything you think you know about him.  This is what Aidan in goalie did for Chris and me.

He had three amazing saves in goal as we watched him.  One of those saves was a penalty kick that Aidan dove and caught in the air.  It was truly spectacular.  So great that as I stood there dumbfounded, watching my son, I heard two parents from the other team talking as they walked behind me, "That Aidan kid they have in goal is unbelievable."

My boy.  My sweet, shy, nonaggressive boy.  It turns out he has a not so sweet, not so shy, and pretty damn aggressive side to him.

Chris and I kept looking at each other the whole game, just shocked by our son.  If I hadn't seen it first hand, I never would have believed it.

Aidan's performance as goalie got quite a bit of attention, so much, in fact that he is now pulling double duty, playing both for the JV team and the Varsity team.  The first time the varsity coach asked him to play up, I literally saw Aidan's chest puff up with pride.  Soccer has helped him discover a whole new side to himself and has given him a little bit of swagger too.

Brennan is also loving the new sport of soccer.  During his first game, he rocked as goalie for the first half and the coach asked him to switch out and play defense the second half.

But, the coach discovered something I already knew about Brennan : the boy is a bit of a ball hog.  And nothing like a little positioning on the field is going to keep him from running after every single shot.  Defense, smfense.  Put Brennan on a soccer field and he evolves from his normal happy go lucky personality to a bit of a bossy bessy who wants the ball all the time.  I heard him barking orders at his teammates, telling them where to go and what to do as he essentially tried to cover the whole field.

Each and every weekend of the past month and a half, Chris and I have watched our boys grow up, seemingly overnight.  And so much of it has occurred simply by opening themselves up to a new sport and playing soccer.  In the meantime, if you need us, we are probably at a soccer game.