October 3, 2011 by Amy
Highs…and one low-down dirty move
Holy weekend fun! We had a photo walk, a photography garage sale, a football game, and a bonfire / hayride – and that was just Saturday. (Somehow in there I managed to also get the house vacuumed, although the vacuum still lingers in the hallway so I suppose that project isn’t quite completely finished.) Sunday brought mass, a trip to the pumpkin patch, a soccer game, and a roast beef/potato pancake dinner. (Somehow in there M managed to also get some work done for the Christmas display – we’re quite industrious!)
The camera went with me for all this, but I obviously haven’t had time to process all the images. I did get Zoe’s game shots done, including this one:
Zozer had possession of the ball on a breakaway, and was trucking down the field while our sidelines went crazy. “Go Zo Go Zo Go Zo Goooooooo!” The girl was on a mission, and she was getting ready to make her shot when #7 from the other team took. her. down.
Holy crap. Her shoe came off and she was pulled down and then #7 mowed her over.
I like to think of myself as an open-minded, Christian woman. I try to not judge others, and I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m reading a book on kindness right now that is seriously changing my view of the world. At this moment, though, seeing my girl prone on the field, missing a shoe, I was seriously ready to lose my shit on a kindergartner.
I snapped off a couple more frames, and then lowered the camera to watch my husband kneel over my daughter. He scooped her up and turned to face us. I ditched the camera and ran across the field, taking a sobbing Zoe and her shoe in my arms. I needed to get her off the field, both for her sake and the team’s.
The ref saw everything, or at least saw the fury on M’s face, and I noticed while comforting Zo that her team was lining up for a penalty kick. We flubbed it, but I didn’t care – I just liked that the unnecessary roughness was acknowledged and the other team penalized.
I had to explain what a penalty kick was, and why they were doing it. “Mommy, did someone from the orange team pull me down? Or was it someone on our team?” “It was the orange team, honey, and she shouldn’t have done that. That’s why our team gets a penalty kick.” “Oh. That was rude!” I can think of a few other words for it, but yeah, let’s go with rude.
I got Zoe calmed down and we were getting her shoe back on when M returned. “Is she ready to go?” And off she went. I’m proud that she shook it off and got right back in the game, and was laughing again within minutes. All in all, it was a great game. Our girls are really starting to play soccer (as opposed to just running around on the field chasing a ball and doing cartwheels, although rest assured there was still some of that) and have fun doing it. M said later that instead of having six girls all asking for a sub, this game he had girls refusing to leave the field to give others a chance to play. And he said he’s starting to hear chatter on the field. Game-related chatter (“Go Anna!”) as opposed to non-game (“Hey! Look at all the different color ponytail holders I have!”).
When we scored our first goal – Ava G. on a breakaway – I was so excited that not only did I not photograph it, I burst into tears. I am so proud of our girls, all of them. They’ve been working so hard and this goal was a long time in coming and hard fought.
This weekend was amazing on so many different levels. Friends and family and love and memories. Really, how could it get any better?
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