Reluctant Soccer Mom

I figured it would be good to do that local-sports-team thing with my kids. You know, get some exercise, learn teamwork, catch up on all that missed socialization (like learning the charming phrase, "Ha!Ha! Lick my butt!" which Collin surprised me with recently). Kyla and Collin have both played spring and fall soccer each year since they were four. I've been okay with that, although I resent the interference with our evenings sometimes.

Last winter, though, my husband, Kelly, signed Collin up for wrestling. Visions of by-gone glory days in mind, no doubt. It might even have been glory days for me, too. Wrestlers have always had a pull for me.

So, Kelly has been revving up to sign Collin up for his second season of wrestling. Collin has told him plainly that he doesn't much like wrestling, to which Kelly's response is to initiate a "take down" in the family room. See, Collin; it's so much fun! Yeah.

I've been on the fence about this whole issue. I never wanted to be one of those scrambling families, rushing the kids off to sports endlessly, season after season, year after year. And yet, here we are. How can that be? I have become the Soccer Mom I used to bad-mouth! I would be most content to stick with spring and fall sports; break for winter and summer. But, there is my husband to consider. I do care what he wants for them, too.

And then, there's that whole problem of Collin saying he doesn't really like wrestling. I'm not sure where I stand on that, either. On the one hand, I do think sometimes you have to help kids try things, get past the little hump of resistance. On the other hand, that's another kind of parent I never liked much - I wrestled, therefore so must my son.

Collin's soccer coach, it turns out, just asked Kelly if Collin was available to do indoor soccer for winter. Coach is putting together a team and would like to have Collin on it. Kelly was non-committal; he doesn't know what to do about Collin's reluctance to wrestle, either. Tomorrow is the last day I can sign up for wrestling, so I have to prod the issue. Man, I hate that.

I'd rather Collin go on the indoor soccer team. He loves soccer, believes he is good at it, and has an excellant coach. But, darn it! That means we're doing soccer three-quarters of the year! Still, it's better than dragging him to a sport he's not interested in.

We have to decide tonight.