Soccer Stud

Landon (6) has a natural penchant for all things athletic. He's just one of those lucky kids that is blessed with the ability to run, jump, hit, throw, or balance, and do it well, without having to think twice about it. He plays hard and he plays fast.

He begged me to let him play soccer this year so I got him into a local rec league and the boy took to it like a duck to water. Last weekend alone he scored 7 goals at the Saturday game and 4 at the Sunday game. He loves it. And it's do-able for me since there's only one night a week of practice. He recently asked me if we could just skip the practices ("'cause they're not so fun") and only go to games ("so I can score goals.")

I explained to him, using all the required good-parent reasoning, why practice was important. But what I didn't reveal to him is how watching him play, whether practices or games, makes me as happy as it makes him. Giddy almost. You know, when you see your child truly love something so much that it hurts you a little.

Yeah, that's where I am.