Soccer, The Zoo, and Ceramics Too!

A couple of months ago, Molly was at gymnastics. I was up in the balcony talking with my friend Christine watching her train. With my undivided attention, I was keenly aware of every move she made.

All of a sudden I heard her cry. A mother knows her own child’s cry above any noise. Molly’s is, well, distinctive. Loud might be a better word. Very loud. Loud enough to make EVERYONE stop. And stare. Including people in the parking lot.

When she finally made eye contact with me she shouted at the top of her lungs, “I HATE gymnastics! And I hate scrambled eggs, too!” (OK, the scrambled egg thing made me fall off my seat with laughter…can you say random?)

It took me a few weeks, but I finally got to the bottom of the situation. Molly thought that one of her coaches didn’t like her. Being the emotional soul that she is, she couldn’t handle to perceived rejection. She could not figure a way to solve her problem, so she decided to hate gymnastics.

I helped her work through her issue with the coach. I gave her lots of different strategies to try  and eventually Molly was satisfied with the outcome. Within a few weeks she was happily tumbling across the gym once again. And she was eating scrambled eggs again, too.

Even though the situation was solved, it did give me reason to pause. Molly has been doing gymnastics since she was about two. Maybe it was time to try another sport.

Now that spring has sprung (sort of) here in the Midwest, Molly decided to give soccer a go, while still hanging onto gymnastics for a while longer. We will see where her interests lie and go from there.

Molly was thrilled beyond belief when I signed her up for soccer with her best friend, Mia. She even go to got pick out brand new soccer shoes and soccer shorts. Be still her little pink heart!

Here’s my girl in action at soccer class….

Obligatory first-day-at soccer-class picture.

Molly and best friend Mia vying for the ball.

The look of pure joy. I’m not sure if she loves soccer or her ultra-hip, pink and black soccer shoes.

More best friend cuteness.Yes, soccer class was a success. Until the end. You know things couldn’t wrap up all neat and tidy. Not with my girl.

As a final activity, the kids played a game with the coach called Sharks and Minnows. In this game the kids are the minnows and they run around the arena. The coach is the shark and he kicks balls at them. If the ball touches them the are out and have to sit down.

Well, when the coach saw an open line to Molly he kicked the ball in her direction. Maybe jus a tad too hard. Okay, maybe more than a tad. It was one of those shots where the ball hits flesh with a resounding THUD. Ouch.

Yes, there were tears. And yes, I heard the words, “I HATE soccer!” but so far she is still cool with scrambled eggs.

Later in the week, the clouds parted, the rain stopped and it got up to 67 glorious degrees. Molly and I met Faye and her two cuties, Alex and Abby, at the zoo.

These girls were on go-go-go mode all day long. Not sure if it was the great weather or having the chance to play together, but they ran everywhere all.day.long. Four hours of nothing but high energy frolicking and fun.

Striking a pose before we began our day.

We should have had a clue about how the day would go when the first thing to catch their attention was the storm drain.

We were at the zoo all day but saw precious few animals. The girls were just having too much fun being silly and playing games to be bothered with looking at animals.

Ahhh, yes. Cuteness abounded.

I love this set of pictures. Little Abby-doo was hiding during an impromptu game of hide-and seek. She is so pleased with herself for picking this hiding spot.

And laughed hysterically when she was found. They all did. That was our day. Three girls had enough laugher to fill up the entire zoo.

And plenty of photo-ops for camera happy mommies.

Faye and I commented on how lucky we were that our girls were part of our amazing group. They have played together since they were still in diapers. They are more like sisters than friends. They have a love for each other that runs deep. Makes our mommy-hearts sparkle. And Molly never said, “I HATE the zoo!” Not even once.

Finally, the week ended with Chinese class and a playgroup outing. This trip was to a paint-your-own-pottery store. Each girl picked out a ceramic piece that totally suited her personality.

Molly, of course, picked a glass slipper. Always my princess.

Getting directions and supplies…

The girls in action.

And of course there was plenty of time to play, as well.

And so ends a big week in our little neck of the woods. Loving the springtime weather and all of our good friends! And even liking gymnastics and soccer, too.