It has been awhile since I have watched 4 year olds play soccer, and during the summer I had asked Jax several times if he wanted to play and of course he said yes. I thought it would get all his energy out at night and possibly go to bed earlier.
So when soccer started he was pretty excited, we went to several practices and he tried his best.
The first game came around and I guess Jax didnt understand that you would have to play against another team. He said he only wanted to play with his team not with another team. Explaining it the best I could he refused to go on the field.
I tried to bribe him with ice cream, that didnt work, I tried threatening, explaining his team needed him and forcing him on the field but as soon as I walked off he was right behind me. Nothing was working.
So the first game didnt go as planned, maybe next time.
The second game rolled around and Jax again refused to go on the field. His coach actually got him on the field with her and as all the kids were playing Jax was also playing, not soccer, but in the dirt. He was sitting on the field playing in the dirt as all the other kids ran around him.
I know its hard to see but in the middle is Jax playing in the dirt
Now the other parents laughed and thought it was cute, I just thought well we were making progress he is actually on the field during the game. Later on that game he stood up a few times, and ran off the field to ask if he was done yet. So the second game wasnt as bad as the first.
I thought over and over, how am I going to get him on the field to play? During practice he would run and kick the ball and play soccer but when it came to a game he refused.
The third game came and I was like, can't freaking wait, I almost wanted to give up but we went. Kailey went with us, I thought she might be able to talk him into playing. We were at the field and of course he refused to play, he wouldnt play in the dirt either and I asked , "Do you want Kailey to come out and stand with you?" he said, "yes" and off they went. I saw him running around not chasing after the ball but chasing after the other kids, but I didnt care, I was proud, he was on the field and running.
So I began to see what was really going on, Kailey was chasing Jaxson and he was running from her, I had no idea what she was doing. During the break I asked, and she explained that she was a dinosaur chasing Jaxson and he had to go get the ball. I thought" whatever works"
So there I was, watching this game, my 12 year old is growling like a dinosaur and my 4 year old is running from her, the other kids are just looking at her thinking she was crazy and running from her. But he was going after the ball, so I didnt care.
Who ever would have thought soccer would have turned out like this.
