Monet has had some pretty big life adjustments these past couple of weeks. Just a short time ago, he, Bo and I made the decision to send him to a local private school for his freshman year. After fourteen years of being at home full-time, this is quite a new experience for him.
Part of the experience has been participating on the Junior Varsity soccer team at his school, his first experience with playing on a sports team since his venture into little league baseball years ago, which left him feeling as if he'd never want to play team sports again. The coaches were in it for the win, and didn't really seem to have time to teach a new player the rules, encourage him, get him on track with something that could boost his confidence. The players were nasty, snobbish and insulting, cliquish and cruel. In a nation where obesity is a major physical and emotional health problem, sports situations such as that don't do much for encouraging physical activity.
It's been a big challenge, but his coaches and teammates have been very encouraging and patient. It's been a good experience so far.
Yesterday evening, he played his second game, and, while he's not the strongest player, he played to the best of his ability, even with some allergies and wheezing wailing on his body.
We've worked hard to encourage him to continue through the season. Friends and family have helped encourage him, too. We're hoping that, by the end of the soccer season, he'll have a great sense of accomplishment for struggling through something, and he'll be a better person for having completed it.
And I probably will be, too.
