Picture it....a nice cool fall day. A lovely evening of kiddy fall soccer. Happy family arriving in the mini van. Fresh water in hand. Smiling face as the child skips a happy little skip onto the field to waving to the other team and encouraging them along. Well if that were true that would be nice. I, however did not have that night. Let's start off with the weather. HOLY HOT BATMAN! It is fall in New England. FALL. However....the temp is not a brisk fall temp...in my van it said it was 98 degrees. 98!!! 9.....8....! WHY! So my lovely child already has stink head from school recess. That sour sweaty smell that just seeps out of their pours. So I pull into the away field with stink head...I mean with my lovely child...and the only other people there are the red team. We are the blue team. Out of her mouth she says..."there is the enemy." Wait what? So we had a quick convo about how the opposite team is NOT the enemy and we are to be a good sport. We want to win but more important is playing with integrity. Then proceeds the quick change in the van. Off with stinky school uniforms and into HOT nylon soccer uniforms. Stinky feet put into soccer cleats. I go to grab her water bottle. Worst mom of the year award goes to...ME! I forgot to fill it up. The best I can do is warm Gatorade which was in the back of the van. So off grumbles stinky head child as she joins her other melting teammates in some attempt to "warm up." My poor husband helps coach and I could see him melting from where I was sitting on the other side.
All the parents of both sides were clustering into the small corner of the field that has a small amount of shade. Bound together we watched these little kiddos play. Hot. Sweaty. Tired. My little one still is rocking the cough that will not end. Well add the humid hot air with the running around that is just a recipe for disaster! I could hear her hacking! They switched out lines often. Well wouldn't you know it, one of the littlest team members takes a cleat to the face. POOR KID! I mean tiny little girl. My husband calls me over and I check her out. Well that did it. My already tired stinky sick child became very stinky on the inside. How could I dare care about anther child when clearly my child was about to burst into flames and fall over due to the fact that #7 bumped into her and surly broke her leg (her leg was just fine and did not bother her until other child needed some attention). I brushed my stinky head child aside and made sure bleeding child was ok. Bleeding child's mom came and took over. By now stinky child is in hysterics as to how mean I am and no one cares about her leg or her cough. The hysteria is now triggering a coughing fit. I do the only thing a mom can do. I pick up even more stinkier headed child and wrap my arms around her hot sweaty body and pull her close. I kiss her stinky head and try to comfort her. I knew at this point the game was a lost cause. She felt like garbage. I am sweating in places I did not know one could sweat and I was not even running around. I look at the faces of other parents around me. A look of thankfulness that it was not their child but also of solidarity. WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE! WE HAVE ALL HAD THAT KID! I am sure super mom's would take this time to teach a valuable life lesson about perseverance in times of trouble. A moment to reflect on how we could have made the day better. I was having none of that. I was tapping out and taking my stick stinky headed child home to feed her, put her in the tub and then stories and BED! Quick kiss to my husband and I carry stinky child to the car. Buckle her in and put the AC on full blast. A little Air 1 radio on the drive home. I did just as I said. Got home and fed her a grilled cheese with grapes...her favorite. A luke warm bath to clean her stinkies and cool her off. A few of her favorite stories and then off to bed! Sometimes you just need a mom to help take the stinkies away. Some of you may be thinking I am doing too much for her. C0ddleing her too much. She has lived with us for almost 3 years. She came from a horrible home life. I count myself lucky to be able to care for her in this way. She is 6 1/2 and most times is pretty good about handling life. But when she is sick, hot and tired all bets are off. I did the best mom thing I could do. Cradle her up and love on her. Tomorrow is a new day. We can face those challenges on a good nights sleep and a lot of AC...it is still a heat wave here! So to all the mom's who have had THAT child at the game or the grocery store or the doctors office. It's ok. We all have stinky head children! We have ALL BEEN THERE! PS....Don't forget the water bottle!
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