for the love of the game

today was stover girl's first football (soccer for all of us silly americans) game.   stover mom has always hoped her little girl would love soccer and excel at it; however, mom didn't want to be disappointed if she didn't embrace her mother's favorite sport.  as a defense mechanism, stover mom was prepared for the worst- surely she'd be the kid complaining of heat and fatigue or her clumsy streak will set her up for endless falls and resultant crying or she'd be the girl watching butterflies rather than the ball.  mom kept these worries in her heart and carefully encouraged her (with the exact same amount of excitement as i've done for dance and swimming participation).  at the game.... she made her mother proud.  she had decent control of the ball, she was fairly aggressive, and she even watched intently while on the sidelines. 

 

now mom has dreams of pele posters plastering her bedroom walls, a family vacation to the world cup, and years and years of soccer saturdays ahead she must keep to herself.