Basketball begins

Miss E was born for sports. The way some kids are born math or reading or social geniuses, she was born for sports. She gets it from Peter. Crawling before six months, walking easily by 10 months, she was the first in the playgroup to put on her own socks, do her own car seat straps, run easily and jump on one foot. It's just the way she is. Now that was have started kindergarten it also is the start for organized sports. Yeah! I am not a super sporty person myself, I like to watch some football and basketball but I didn't really play anything in high school. And I have no investment in having the best athlete on the team or anything like that but here I have been given this girl who has a physical gift and she loves it. Loves it! She loves learning new things, she loves using her body, the teamwork, the social aspect - all of it. At this age all sports are co-ed so she is also learning to get along and be comfortable around boys which I think is really important for girls to do before they get anywhere near the dating ages.

So, basket ball has started. And since I know Miss E does not like to try something brand new before an audience, we got her a ball and I taught her a few things in our kitchen. Then tonight was her first practice (which I ended up having to drag her out of because she didn't want to stop shooting baskets when it was over). There is only one other girl on this team and it is clearly more "boy" than soccer. But she still gets in there and I am super proud of her. Outside of sports, she is empathetic, polite and respectful. But at one point tonight during scrimmage, she went for a loose ball with another boy and ended up yanking it out of his hands. Instinctively, I almost said something to her about it, since that wouldn't be ok with friends or on the playground but then I realized, that's how boys play the game. And if she wants to play well with the boys, she is going to need to be aggressive too. So I didn't say anything and all her coach said was "good job Miss E". It's a whole new world out here.

It was joyful though, to watch her face as she learned to dribble the ball, make baskets, play defense. She was happy, excited and wanted more. She loves being on a team, playing with the other kids. She was proud of herself. And that is what I want. Good or bad, skilled or unskilled, I want my kids to feel proud of themselves and find something they enjoy.