Soccer Mom to Be

I was a full fledged soccer mom today. It was awesome. I loaded six boys—ages 7 months to 10 years—into a minivan and rolled over to the local peewee field to watch the 6 year old tear it up at his final game. I also watched a lot of other games. There was the the “pay me a pile of wood chips to go down the slide” game; the “capture then re-capture the exhausted moth” game; the “roll down the hill until all of our bums turn green” game; and, of course, the “get as close to the actual soccer game as you can without getting chided” game. It was a hoot.

Atrain adores these cousins (sons of my cousin, actually—but cousins all the same). Every time we get a chance to watch them it’s as if we board a pirate ship and sail off to explore uncharted waters. But these boys are much better behaved than a bunch of scurvy buccaneers—they even ask “please may I be excused,” after we eat a meal. And they share their treasures with Atrain. And they always greet him with the biggest hugs and highest high-fives.

I love watching this crew. I look at them and I see my family in just a few years. I hear their excitement about all things boyish and brotherly—caring so much about what the others are doing (good and bad). I feel their energy and it’s easy to get lost in their world. Though I’m sure it isn’t easy to raise a bunch of boys (and do as good of a job as my cousin has done), it sure is easy to love them. Atrain agrees. Tonight in family prayer he said, “And thank you to us watching the boys.” Yes, thank you.