Jeremy's First Soccer Game

On Saturday, Jeremy had his first soccer game. We woke up and started getting ready. Thank goodness that this Saturday was Sanitation day. ( This is a day when the people in Lagos have to clean up the areas around their homes. if anyone besides police and doctors are found on the street, they will be arrested and taken to jail. Funny thing is, I didn't even notice a difference.) So, instead of his game starting at 8 a.m. (yikes!!!) it started at 11 a.m. I got Jeremy's shin guards and soccer cleats out. Immediately, Elizabeth wanted to put on the shin guards. She looked so funny running around the flat in shin guards and her sundress. Jeremy liked wearing his cleats because they made a tapping sound on the floor. When we had to leave, Elizabeth was not happy about taking the shin guards off.:) When we got to the field, Jeremy received his uniform, and Guy helped him put it on. Jeremy ran off onto the field ( he is the smallest one on his team) and started practicing kicking the ball into the goal with his friend, Jake. Guy and I were watching Jeremy and his teammates practicing when I noticed a small little girl in a pink sundress running out onto the field to kick the ball. It was Elizabeth!! I had to run out and grab her...she thinks she is one of the big kids.:)

When the game started, it was like watching a herd of tiny horses run on the field. They all just chase the ball around the field. Jeremy was hilarious, he kept picking up grass and looking at it in his hands and trying to show it to Jake who was trying to follow the ball. Jeremy paid no attention to the ball at all for a long time. Then, a light bulb went off, and he started to run in the crowd with the rest of the kids on his team. We were so happy to see him running around with the kids on the field. Then, all at once, Jeremy was crying. One of the children on his team had accidentally run right into his face. Needless to say, Jeremy was crying and didn't want to go back and play again. So, after half time, he sat out and and kicked the ball back and forth with Guy. Elizabeth, on the other hand, kept trying to run back out onto the field to take her brother's place. At the end of the game, Jake came over to Jeremy and told him that he had gotten hurt also, but he had stayed in the game. When I asked Jeremy if he would play again next week, he said," Yeah, I'll play soccer with my friend, Jake." So, will it be the makings of a future soccer star??? Who knows. But, for right now, we'll work on no crying during soccer.:)