Volleyball!

Today was a big first for our family in that it was Abigail's first day of volleyball, marking the start of our kids in organized sports. I've tried to be really slow and selective about this, knowing that kid sports can be tricky to maintain with a large family and our family is only getting bigger. So while we have friends and neighbor's with their kids in competitive gymnastics and dance or even just multiple kids in soccer and basketball and football and everything else, I've elected for free one day things through the library or something or just a paid one week camp that can just be over and done without having one of those every Thursday at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 10:15 schedules to deal with for an entire school year. But with all the behavioral stuff that Abigail has been dishing out lately, I've felt like giving her more opportunities would be beneficial for her. So, extra play dates and special outings and... volleyball. Honestly, I don't really care about volleyball, but I didn't want to do dance (the makeup and skanky outfits and dance recitals totally turn me off) or gymnastics (because the only way to continue it competing and I'm just in this for the life skills and social development) and preferably a sport with fewer injuries and gear and doesn't require me sitting in inclement weather with small children in tow. But the thing that really got me was that I was visiting teaching my friend Mandi a while ago and she said she'd signed up to coach a 6-8 year old volleyball team and I could sign Abigail up for it through the rec center. So I marked the signup date in my calendar and made sure I was one of the first (first come, first serve on coaches) to sign up. Weeks and weeks later and it was finally her first day!  Also other motivation for me was that this could be an opportunity for our family to get out together and be excited and supportive of each other. Mission accomplished. 

We all woke up and ate the delicious French toast breakfast loving prepared by honey and we got ready to go. I woke Elizabeth up and got her dressed and in the car and we were all off. Out of the house before 9am on a drizzly Saturday morning! It felt good. The field house was basically a ward party with two Mormon coaches who's teams (different age groups) were meeting at the same time. I saw at least ten different families from church. Half of Abigail's team is our ward plus one more girl that used to be in the ward. I think she enjoyed knowing the coach and having a number of friends on her team. 

Up until a week ago, Abigail was calling it bolleyball with a B. For the last week she's been talking about how it's her favorite sport. Even her teacher said she'd talked about it at school. This morning, we realized that Abigail still had no clue what the sport is, so we had her watch a quick YouTube video on Chris's phone before breakfast. The best part about all of this is that she totally didn't care and showed zero concerns or any awareness of her inadequacy. Like she didn't understand this morning why I wouldn't let her wear boots. "Volleyball players wear shoes, not boots." This is one of my favorite things about Abigail...  Her carefree and optimistic attitude. Brady has so many concerns but Abigail just skips forward happily, confident that everything will be fine. As her teacher said to me a few weeks ago "I think she's amazing! I don't think I would have had that kind of confidence when I was seven years old!" (She's actually six, but I didn't correct the teacher... Most of the first grade class is already seven). 

Anyway, it was great. Abigail is by far the least skilled or coordinated on the team but I don't think she minds. And it was just as I anticipated. ; ) Also, she loved it. When we stopped at the library on the way home, she asked Chris, then me, and then, when I went with her, a librarian for help finding books on volleyball. So cute. At home, we all practiced and she loved showing off her skills. 

The kids watched paw patrol while Elizabeth and Chris napped and I studied a parenting book. 

After, we all went outside and played. Hockey, volleyball, bikes, Elizabeth pushing her baby in the tiny pink stroller... All super great. Moments of bliss. 

We played paw patrol trouble and eventually the kids got in bed. It was a very family oriented day that gives me appreciation for today but also hope and optimism for future days. 

I'm so thankful for this happy little day. Hooray for volleyball!