Here's the thing: he loves to practice and he talks about kicking the ball or scoring often, but on game day when I put on the jersey he freezes. All of the sudden he is no longer interested in playing no matter what joyful activity we bribe him with.
Last week it was this for nearly the entire game, except the two minutes when the coach picked him up, put him on the line. He proceeded to stand on the line as everyone kicked the ball around him.
B sitting out, whining, or throwing a tantrum isn't new so this time I took a harder line. I told him we would leave if he didn't play, because he was letting his friends down. Call me a mean mommy, but I am not expecting my kid to go out there and score fifty goals, I just want him to have fun and learn how to be a part of a team. Major fail on the latter.
The response I got from him when I told him we would leave if he continued to sit out and pout was, "But I want my snack."
Can we say fat kid in the making? He goes to soccer for the treats. Well, I think you know how this went. I had to be the bad guy and we left the game early.
We are going to send him to practice in his jersey this week to see if the positive association with practice will rub off on wearing his game-clothes. We'll see.
Suggestions?
2 comments:
i love that you and i get to go through this kid crap at the same time. our issue is similar, but we're at the other end of the spectrum. connor never wants to stop playing and doesn't understand that he's part of a team. he still thinks that he's competing with his teammates. he'll jump on the ball while fielding like it's a grenade.
sorry that i have no words of wisdom for B. the jersey idea was my first thought too in case that's somehow associated with game day pressure. kids are nuts, who knows. we use sticker charts for every single thing so that's my go-to response.
good luck!
You could always bring a shit snack like corn chips or something equally uninspiring. (ahem-thanks mom.) I must say though, even though I was nuts about soccer growing up, I still always looked forward for the cupcakes afterwards. Genetics, Keiko, genetics...hahaha.
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