despite being cursed with my non-athletic genes, we've signed 'em up for soccer

Anyone who has known me longer than 15 minutes has heard my sob story of being forced to play two seasons of softball as a kid. I was the only one out of twelve cousins who had no interest in sports of any kind, and my mom - bless her heart - set out to change that.

So in 4th grade she signed me up for softball. It was the dead of summer, and we were forced to wear almost long sleeved baseball jerseys and JEANS. The coach, noticing my athletic non-prowess almost immediately, stuck me in the outfield, where I hoped and prayed with each batter that the ball would come no where near my general vicinity. My offense was no better than my defense... I think in two years of playing softball, my bat made contact with the ball maybe twice, and the rest of the time I was either walked or struck out. And there was no better thing than looking out my window on a game morning to pouring rain. (Oh please, GOD IN HEAVEN, let the game be rained out!)

So it is safe to say that forcing me to play a sport neither turned me into an athlete nor even gave me an appreciation for the game. To this day, I still regularly remind my mother what absolute hell it was for me to be forced to endure something I hated so badly. I know she was just trying to help, to nudge me into being the 12th athletic cousin, but turning me into an athlete would be like turning Jesse Jackson into a staunch Republican. It ain't happening.

The loathing I felt from being forced to do this has carried over into my role as mother, too. Miller never showed an interest in playing sports, and Gray, though built like a linebacker, has never been one of those kids who has had a burning desire to try every sport, either. And that was fine with me. I didn't push them or make them feel like boys were "supposed" to play sports just because they were boys.

Having said all of that, I'm putting aside all of my sports hang-ups and have signed them up for soccer. They didn't protest when I asked them if they wanted to try it, so I just did it. I don't anticipate either one of them loving it, but they DO love their new shin guards and soccer shoes. I had to buy them athletic shorts, too, because the only type of shorts we own at this house are either khaki or madras plaid. (Mommy is a touch on the preppy side, and she likes it that way:-) In the grand scheme of cute sports outfits, though, soccer ranks right up there. You'd better believe I'll have my camera at a few of those games.