Last week, the careers of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols unceremoniously ended when the St. Louis Cardinals were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies. It was an anti-climactic end to a magical season. As the last out was recorded, I thought about texting my dad and my brother, baseball fans through and through. At no point did I think to tell my kids and I'm not entirely sure that they know when baseball season actually is.
Yesterday, while Megan was cooking dinner and I was putting away the dishes, I looked up to see that soccer was on TV. Ezra was watching highlights from Tottenham's 3-2 win over Frankfurt in the Champions League.
Our family has become a soccer family...
Growing up, it seemed like most of the kids in my neighborhood picked either baseball or soccer. Some did both, but most did either one or the other. Being that my dad was born and raised in St. Louis during the time of Gibby, Brock, and a 1960's Cardinals team that went to 3 World Series before he had a driver's license, it was pretty clear that we were going to be a baseball family. I grew up on it and it's still very much my first love. Going to school in St. Louis (#GoBears!) and living in CoMO for a decade were great because the Cardinals were so close. I went downtown after the Cards won the 2006 World Series and there were plenty of Cardinals fans around to celebrate when they won again in 2011. I indoctrinated the kids early enough and when they see a Cardinal out in the wild, they're still inclined to call it a "Go Cardinal," which is pretty awesome.
When we moved to Omaha, it meant we could see our family up in Sioux Falls more often, which meant we could see my nephew play soccer more. Since we had that as a template, it made sense for us to sign Ezra up for youth soccer, which he absolutely loved. When we also signed him up for baseball, he was fine but you could tell that he was really hooked on the beautiful game. When he's looking for sports highlights online, he's asking how Tottenham did, not how the Cardinals did. He wants to kick the ball around outside more than he wants to play catch. It's definitely in his blood.
Soccer suits Ezra better. There's more running and more movement. There's a lot of activity, which is exactly what he wants. Thaliea is more of a baseball girl because there's less running and less activity but she's not really high on sports in general. We'll see about Jonah.
I wanted to make sure that I stay involved with the kids as much as I can, so I'm coaching Ezra's soccer team. Do I know how to coach a soccer team? No, but thankfully at this level, you don't need to know much. It's about making sure the kids are moving in the right direction and that no one is kicking anyone else in the face.
Honestly, I'm cool with it. Ezra loves soccer and that's OK. Thaliea doesn't have much of an interest in sports but likes other things, and that's OK too. We have no idea what Jonah will do and that's also OK. Whether or not my kids are devoted to one sport over the other, so long as they're happy and thriving, isn't my greatest concern. I'll become a soccer dad, or a dance dad, or a rugby dad, or whatever, and that'll be great.
Honestly, I'm cool with it. Ezra loves soccer and that's OK. Thaliea doesn't have much of an interest in sports but likes other things, and that's OK too. We have no idea what Jonah will do and that's also OK. Whether or not my kids are devoted to one sport over the other, so long as they're happy and thriving, isn't my greatest concern. I'll become a soccer dad, or a dance dad, or a rugby dad, or whatever, and that'll be great.
Just so long as they never root for the Cubs. =0).
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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