Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I Hulk Out on Occasion

It was our usual hour of practice on the soccer field.  All of us soccer moms, and one soccer dad, were watching our boys scrimmage against each other in a three on three.   It was an attempt to teach them defense and passing as strategies.  Silly as it might seem to a four year old, they actually appeared to be finally getting it. 

It was a balmy 94 degrees outside. The dust from the parking lot swirled around as the wind blew  hot air at us all. There had been a lot of random flailing, pushing and pulling on shirts during the practice.  The boys are all competitive about being the one in front of the ball, which is why they were working on passing.  Several times play had stopped because someone knocked heads or got poked in the eye.  All of us soccer parents had given our boys kisses and sent them back out onto the field.  The game had begun to have some flow to it and then...Dylan shoved Zane hard in the back and sent him flying.  Zane ended face first in the grass, after a bounce.

"HEY!!!"

I wanted to tell the person yelling to be quiet, until I realized that it was me.  I hadn't even realized that I was on the field until I was leaning over my boy.  I had gone full-on Mama Bear and "Hulked out"(in honor of the Avengers movie opening this weekend!).  Dylan took one look at me in all my Hulkiness and ran crying to his Mama, which was probably in his best interest.   I picked Zane up, because he was crying, and looked him over. 

He didn't seem the worse for having kissed the grass, but I still got a little teary, because he's my kid and I don't like to see him cry.  Thankfully, my sunglasses hid my eyes.  Dylan came over with his dad and apologized to Zane for the shove, and then I carried my son over to the sidelines. I let him tell me what happened in his teary voice while he calmed down.  He had a few gulps of Gatorade to go with his sniffles, and sat a minute or two.  Then we had the following conversation:

"Are you ready to go back in there?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Okay, well, are you ready to suck it up and go score me a goal?"

"Yes."

And then Zane ran back out there, back into play.   I was so proud of him.  I know what it feels like to hit the ground so hard that you bounce; I wouldn't have been upset if he had wanted to call it a night.  But boys are pretty resilient when it comes to sports, so Dylan and Zane were right back out there together, going after that ball with their usual enthusiasm.  When practice was finished, we packed up and headed home.  While we were driving home, my husband, who had seen the entire incident, took my hand tenderly in his. 

"I didn't know that you could move that fast," he said.  Neither did I. 

4 comments:

  1. You had me hulking at soccer in 94 degree heat! Brace up for the season mama bear...and when the opposing teams arrive. Hooray for your little man getting back out there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didn't know you could move that fast....he sounds like my husband. Last night he asked if I was getting thinner and I was all, "WTF, no?!?" And he says well I guess your arms are getting skinnier. I told him that assumes the middle is getting wider and he promptly got up and went to the bathroom.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll notice that my husband took hold of my hand...so I wouldn't smack him! Lol!

      Delete
  3. haha got to love a mama bear---glad he is okay ;)

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!