Children are weird. Last night was one of the worst sock and shoe experiences we have had in a long time. In some ways it is all my fault. In an effort to not be too early I laid back and gave the kids a few extra minutes and then figured it would be time to get ready. When they are focused and behave it doesn’t take long to get them ready to leave. However they were not focused or behaved.
They decided that sock and shoe time would be the perfect time to lose their minds. They found a bag of plastic Easter eggs and were throwing those down the steps. They were fighting with each other and not helping in any way to get their socks and shoes on.
One of the biggest problems is they won’t let me help. They demand that mom helps and then give her a hard time in different ways. In all this hassle we finally made it out the door minus one soccer ball, two water bottles, all of my patience, and half my sanity, but we had the kids and they had socks and shoes on.
The soccer practice was its standard affair. Windsor played all the games and had fun and Roland refused to do anything where he either had to wear a different color shirt or be something other than a Roland. The coach played a human vs vampire game in the spirit of Halloween and when a vampire stole a human’s ball they became a vampire. Roland quit instead of becoming a vampire.
After all of this. After a night of trail and failure and every imaginable stress kids can provide the coach had parents join the teams for the last scrimmage of the year. And I found myself with two boys hugging my legs. They were both so happy that daddy was on the field with them. All the previous frustration and anger drifted away, and I played a game with my boys.
Children are, at times, the worst nightmares imaginable, but at other times they are the greatest dreams a person can conceive. It is those moments. Those small and fleeting moments that we do this for. Life is full of hassle and hardship, struggle and strife, but there are beautiful moments, and I appreciate the one from last night.
David Huzzard Writes 