Welcome to the Soccer Mom Life!

So I guess technically I have been a "soccer mom" for over a year now.  Justin started a soccer class last fall when Katelynn started attending preschool.  He was only 18 months old so he wasn't really playing soccer, just doing drills and such to gear him towards it.  We did one 12-week session and moved on to gymnastics for the rest of the year.  This year I started him again and have been amazed at the transition.  He is a much better listener and way more into it.  In fact, he was so psyched about it when he first started that he really peeked Katelynn's interest in it as well.  I try to kick the soccer ball back and forth with the kids a lot and we have done drills to the goal we have at home, and with that and her brother's excitement, Katelynn has been asking for months to play soccer too.

So today I finally caved.  She already has preschool four days a week and 1.5 hours of dance class each week so I was really stalling on the soccer practice, but I also love the idea of my girlie-girl playing soccer.  I personally think that sports are a great idea for kids.  I don't care about the competition part of it really, but I would love for all my kids to be involved in sports, if nothing else for the involvement it will put them in school activities with their peers.  Dance is great for Katelynn, but it's not a school sport that she can be involved in; soccer is.  While I'm also not into pushing my kids into things they don't want to do, I figured since Katelynn has so much interest in it now that I needed to jump on it while she was open to it and can decide if it's something she wants to play.  SHE LOVED IT!  And I know I'm a bit biased but I think she totally rocked the soccer field today, especially for it being her first time!  She jumped right into the class without any hesitation or shyness like I was expecting, was kicking the ball around during warm-up like she has been doing it forever.  I was quite surprised to see that half of practice is already playing an actual game (in Justin's class, we still don't even get close to playing the actual game of soccer) and while she was not aggressive about getting the ball in her possession, she ran the field and kept right up with where the ball was.  She was normally right beside whoever had it, just wasn't trying to steal it away at all.  I think she might have a real knack for soccer, and I just might be almost as excited as she is about playing!

So.. I have to tell you all that I feel like I officially became the soccer mom today.  Officially.  And the exact moment I knew it was when I was yelling for my kid to kick the ball and two other parents looked over at me wondering why in the world I was yelling.  Yep.  Sorry, kids,  mommy is going to be that kind of mom.  You know, the one who can't keep from cheering her kids on, yelling and clapping and getting excited when my kid rocks the socks off a game of soccer?  Yep, that's officially going to be me.  I just can't help it!  No, I won't be yelling at the referee when they call a bad play (are there even refs in soccer?  I have no idea...) or swearing or anything of that nature.  I'm not THAT kind of yelling/cheering mom, but I also can't sit back and pretend not to be proud when my kids do something great.  So, yeah, I became a soccer mom today.  The one who also was wearing an infant and had a 2-year old beside me all the while still having to cheer on my little girl. 

(Did I mention I was the only mom who had other kids with me watching too?  Yep, the rest of the moms and dads sat on their smartphones and worked on their laptops while I rocked a tired baby, watched one play soccer and another play trucks and yelled just a tiny bit.  So I say I win the title for sure.  Soccer mom it is!)