We are now a week or so out from fall soccer, and have gotten through what I will call re-entry. At first, with all that time on our hands and unseasonably cold temperatures outdoors, we were all on edge. What in the heck were we supposed to DO with ourselves? Honestly, none of us were sure, and Simon wasn’t the only one who was feeling restless and cranky.
Thanksgiving break provided a great reminder: We are supposed to socialize, something that we had largely forgotten about unless it took place on the sidelines. But this week we had a family holiday on Thursday, a party with friends we met at Brandeis on Friday, a party with some of our first Louisville friends (and Simon’s first ever friends) on Saturday, and then a soccer binge day today.
It was pretty glorious, especially Friday, which reminded me a lot of nights out in San Francisco. There were about six couples in all, and I feasted on Chinese, Filipino, and Indian food while getting to know everyone. We all had kids, but they were all boys, so we more or less tossed them in the basement and forgot about them. I think Simon went to bed slightly hungry because we opted to not cater to his pickiness and let him make do with what was on offer. And honestly, he didn’t seem too upset, because he’ll give up a lot for nearly five hours of one-on-one time with a friend.
Then last night we celebrated our friend Dave’s 40th birthday and remembered why we became friends in the first place. Simon, meanwhile, sneaked dessert with first friends Leah and Sophie and again went to bed slightly hungry after not eating enough of the Middle Eastern spread on offer. I, once again, stuffed myself nearly sick and opted to not worry about what or how much Simon was eating.
Adult conversation! Food that wasn’t pizza! The “benign neglect” school of parenting! It was a very good weekend. So good that today I did not mind at all slipping back into old patterns. We watched two EPL soccer games in the morning, I went for a run while Simon and Matt went to play soccer in the park in the afternoon, and for dinner we went to watch the U of L men’s soccer team play in the NCAA tournament. My dinner ended up being nachos and a pretzel, which I am deeply regretting even as I type.
But you know what? Friday and Saturday made up for a lot of bad meals before and after. And the entire weekend has me realizing that I need to grab the off-season by the reins and socialize my brains out. It’s not that I mind being a soccer mom—I actually kind of love it. It’s that I cannot only or primarily be a soccer mom all the time. And that it is wonderfully freeing to occasionally toss Simon into a scenario where I can largely forget about him for an evening or half-day. Given what a great mood Simon was in the entire weekend, I can only guess that he feels the same way.
Suddenly, the six weeks between now and the Winter II soccer session doesn’t seem so long.
I imagine that it will get even easier to let Simon fend for himself. And that you will both love it.