Aidan had his first soccer practice this morning at Fairyland Elementary. He was pumped about playing, but as soon as we got onto the field he pulled an about face and just clung to my leg crying. There we were on the sidelines watching the other kids practice.
For about twenty minutes we tried to calm, coax and encourage Aidan to participate. I admit that I was slightly embarrassed for him. However, there were also two other kids in our sub-group in the same situation. It reminded me how intimidating a big group could be for a little kid. Pressing on, we both tried running with Aidan on the field, but each time he would end up crying and walking off. At this point I was thinking about the next Saturday.
Then Pam tried the simplest trick in the book, bribery, and it worked! As soon as she told Aidan that he could pick out a candy bar after practice, he ran onto the field. In no time Aidan was passing the ball back and forth with his coach (trapping and kicking).
After a while they paired up and played one-on-one. Aidan played well against his equally sized female competitor, though he committed some incidental contact.
Below are Aidan and his friend Banks cooling down after practice. Love those Brasil colors!
6 Comments
cool. we’ll have to remember the bribery trick, since I imagine Caleb will behave a lot like that. he just shuts down in crowds. people in church think he’s “a little angel” in the service…no, he’s just shy.
he was a natural… must’ve been the shoes
Man Scott the pics are GREAT!! Now that I have afrimed you as a person you should post more Pics of the Kids!
bob: I wish Aidan was an angel in the service! But lately we’ve been telling him that he can’t play with his friends after the service ends if he acts up during worship. Seems to have been working…at least for the last two weeks.
holton: Imagine then how he’d play if I got him some Adidas Preditors! We just got him the cheapest cleats available in his size.
Daniel: Maybe “you should” get a job.
Scott, just a thought…see if you can arrange a play date with one of the other kids on the team…if it can’t be arranged before next Saturday than try for Mickey D’s right after practice with another family. If he has even one close buddy to pair up with it can make HUGE difference….I want to point out that John’s two best friends, Ryan and Chris M., have been his friends since k-5….
Debbie: Great idea! Aidan is friends with Banks, the kid pictured on the last photos. And one of the families that visited CVPC this past Sunday has a kid on the team, too.
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