Sportball Ribbons

Aaliyah and Ayaan received their sportball ribbons today as it was the final day of their 8 week long Sportball outdoor soccer practice. I am glad its over for Ayaan and not so glad for Aaliyah. Aaliyah was really having fun at the game and also with her friend Dawson. Even Dawson seemed to enjoy Aaliyah's company and was very supportive of her during the entire soccer practice.

Right from day one, Aaliyah and Dawson were instant friends. Being the older siblings, they shared the same
kind of love and affection for their younger siblings. Since Ayaan's soccer practice required parent participation, I was with Ayaan all the time. If it weren't for Dawson or his Mom, Aaliyah would have had to sit all alone and that would not have been fun at all. While Dawson's Mom watched Dawson, his Dad, Scott, participated in the soccer practice with Graydon. I never had to worry about Aaliyah, because she was always with Dawson and his Mom, Adele. Both Adele and Scott were easy and fun to get along with. I had a good time chatting with them.

Saying bye to Adelle, Scott, Dawson and Graydon was a little hard and awkward. It did not seem like it was the end of our friendship. Adelle and I used to sit and talk about our children, our hobbies and stuff in general while our kids played. She was a really nice person. I should have taken her number down. But again, I am not sure if my commitments would allow me to build our superficial friendship. I haven't called my friends from college in a long time. The only contact I have with them is through Facebook. Having another friend that I would not keep in touch, just doesn't seem right. But anyways, I do need to make some friends here in Richmond. So, hopefully, we bump into each other somewhere, someday.

As for Ayaan and his Soccer practice, I had a hard time keeping him focused for the entire 45 minutes of his practice. He would be all attentive and alert for the first 30 minutes or so and then would start getting distracted by what Aaliyah was doing or would just wander out on his own when the rest of the team mates worked on their drills. I am definitely not putting him in any Parent and Tot soccer practice anymore. I wonder if there is anything other than the T.V, that can keep Ayaan interested from start to finish. He likes water play a lot. He has been making a watery mess in the backyard trying to make a pretend beach. Perhaps some swimming lessons in the fall, would do him good. I just hope they don't require parent participation. If they do then I am quite certain that Ayaan will start clinging onto me as soon as he feels tired or bored. 

Aaliyah is definitely returning to some kind of sport in the fall. The fact that she would get all dressed for the soccer practice a whole hour or two earlier speaks volumes about how much she looked forward to her practice. Her excitement and anticipation for the game is quite similar to the excitement for any special day at school. Whether it was Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 100th day of school, Valentines day, Earth day, crazy clothes day, pajama day or the super hero day, Aaliyah did not need any reminders about brushing her teeth or dressing herself up on these special days. She would do everything without stressing me out. The stress would usually kick in seeing her all dressed up and wanting to leave the house early.
Aaliyah's school reopens in about 2 weeks. If only the teachers could organize a special day each day of this new school year then my life would be so much easier when she starts grade 1. But then as an afterthought, these special days wouldn't be as special then. The best thing I can possibly do in grade 1 is to channel Aaliyah's affection from her current bossy best friend to some other friend who is not as bossy and is someone she looks forward to meet at school each day. If I need stress free mornings then I better find Aaliyah a nicer friend.