Three for three

For as long as I can remember we've had a rule: our children can play one sport each season, and that sport must be an indoor sport. Indoor sports are generally played in climate-controlled venues. Outdoor sports, not so much. Rain, snow, blazing hot days make up outdoor sports' weather. Therefore, basketball or volleyball are Duffy-approved sports. Soccer: not much. 

Michael was the first to mess with my no-soccer rule. But he didn't love the game; all he wanted to do was look at the cars in the parking lot next to the soccer field. He was ten and a Duffy, so we cut him some slack - but we also didn't sign him up for the team again. Then in her junior year, Amy decided to give soccer a go. So much time had passed between our first experience with soccer that I forgot what outdoor sports are like. One game and I remembered… I instituted the, “No Outdoor Sports” rule once again.

And yet, I took this picture in my car last week:

Know what those are? Those are soccer cleats. Guess who’s going to wear them? Rebecca.

She suckered me and good. About four weeks ago she casually mentioned that some of her friends were going to soccer conditioning practices and they’d invited her to go along. “I can go but not join the team,” she said. She was so non-committal about it that I believed her. After going to a few conditioning practices, she said, again so casually, “I think I’d like to try soccer.” And in a moment of weakness, I said yes.

What is wrong with me?! We’re now three for three – all of my children have played soccer. My no outdoor sports rule is clearly merely a suggestion.

Tomorrow I will drive an hour from home to spend the afternoon at a soccer field watching Rebecca play in her first game. I have a sneaky suspicion it won't be her last.