drama queens

My girls are so dramatic. I know Mom, I know, I hear your voice in my head right now - "oh Lisa, stop being so dramatic!" I am getting my comeuppance, it's true. There was no school Friday, so I took the girls out to buy soccer shoes for the twins, and shin pads etc as they will be starting spring soccer in a few weeks. They have never played before and so far Kate is quite keen, but Emily is not so sure about the whole thing. Which is interesting since it's generally Kate who gets stressy about doing something new, and Em who just goes with the flow and doesn't worry much about it. So when we got home from our shopping trip they asked if they could put on all their new gear and practice outside with their older sister Elizabeth, who is just finishing her first year in soccer. I helped them get everything on and off they all went. A short time later while I was in my room folding laundry Emily appeared in a muddy pair of cleats, threw herself down flat on her back and declared loudly that she hates soccer and she never wants to play it again. Trying to keep it casual, I asked why. "Because I have been trying all day to run with the ball and I still can't do it!"she wailed. "I am just no good at this game!!!" Ah me. So I reminded her that Elizabeth didn't learn how to play in one day, and that lots of other kids will be new at it, and then told her that when I played soccer I certainly wasn't the best player on my team. In fact, I told her, I wasn't even close to being the best player on my team, but I still had a lot of fun. My sad lack of talent made her happy - she cheered up and rushed off to tell her sisters what a crappy soccer play their mom had been too.
Saturday I took them all for a walk at a local regional park beside the river that runs past our place. After a squabble over carrying the water bottle, Kate sat down in the middle of the trail and stated that she wasn't going to move until someone else carried the bottle, even though it was her turn to do so. I ignored her and carried on walking. She gave up fast when she realized we were all leaving her behind and jumped up yelling at us to wait up, and then of course she tripped and fell right back down again hard onto the rocky path. Karma...Well, the way she carried on you would have thought a tree had fallen on her. In all fairness, she did cut her knee open. After I got a bandaid on her - I never go for hike without some first aid supplies! - we carried on. Even though it was cold out, she rolled her pant leg all the way to her thigh and left it that way for the rest of the walk, because she said it really hurt if her pants touched her knee and so on. I held her hand and she whimpered a lot but we made it back to the parking lot in one piece. I was thinking that wasn't too bad when she suddenly burst into tears again and wailed that she didn't want us to stop walking - why were stopping now?? Sigh.
The next morning Elizabeth had a soccer game, second last of the season. It has been her first year and she loves playing, but had yet to score a goal. The coaches were trying to get all the girls positioned to score at least once before the season was over, but it just hadn't happened. I had my camera all set to bring with us when Elizabeth suddenly shrieked "No mom, no!!! You'll jinx me for sure if you bring that thing!!! Please please don't bring it!!" Oh my god. Alright alright, I won't bring it, I told her. Just relax and enjoy the game, and it'll happen. Then of course I was the basket case on the side lines when in fact she did finally score that goal. I was whooping and jumping around with the other parents like a bunch of lunatics, while she just gave me a shy smile as if to say oh mom, really, what's the big deal?