9/18/11

Last Thursday's volleyball

Finally, we were on time to a game. And, this is the team we came to cheer.





But, where are they???


The bus that was supposed to pick them up went to the school where it was supposed to let them off. And, it waited and it waited. Finally, the driver called in and found out they were at the wrong school and went and picked up the girls and brought them to the game.


No one was sure what to do when they got there, so I started to clap. I had decided to do that before they got there and was just waiting for them to show up at the door. In a second or two, all the parents were clapping. At first, the girls thought it was sarcastic, but it just kept on, cheering and clapping and the girls and the coaches relaxed and started to enjoy it.


When A team played, Sydney was line judge. Line judge is boring work. You only need to be paying attention when you need to be paying attention. But, when you need to be paying attention, it's vital that your head be in the game. We've seen some really embarassing times when a ref was waiting for a line judge to get their head in the game and make the call. And, sometimes a judge isn't paying enough attention to make the call and that's even more embarassing because the judge usually finds for the opponent.




My girl's head was in the game and she called every time, just right. And the ref was filled with compliments to both judges that she was working with that night.






And, when B team played, my girl's head was in the game, too. She played well. She's getting some control and is not lobbing the ball out of bounds like the week before. And, she was the server on both the winning points for the two games they played. Both those serves were right over the net, fast and low, right in the midst of the other team. Right where they weren't expecting it to be.



I had no idea it would be so hard to balance encouraging her about volleyball with trying to fire her up about Spanish. The child spends way more time fighting me about the subject than she would, just knuckling under and doing it. I began the conversation with Rob this morning about pulling her out and putting her in some different class. I just don't know how much of my life I'm willing to invest in something that she is so damned determined not to learn. Because, really, that's what this is all about. She has decided not to learn it and I can assign all the homework I want, but if it doesn't get me past that barrier, I'm just spitting in the wind.





But, she's pulling on Superman's cape and I'm just not sure which of those activities is more futile.





Take care and have a great Monday. I walked into an emergency at work this morning and that is so much fun on a Monday. Surprise!





Oh, and when I was pulling that quilt off the floor this morning, I did find a little clump of black cat hair, so I was double glad I covered the whole thing with an extra sheet. Now, it's rolled onto a cardboard fabric roll, waiting to be photographed.





Lane













3 comments:

Becky said...

Good job, Sydney!! Hope the work emergency is over and you can put it out of your mind tonite. Love ya! Becky

Pauline said...

Yea for Sydney and for you. A thought about the stand-off between you, Sydney and Spanish: "He (or she) who is convinced against his (her) will, is of the same opinion still."
Thanks to you I made up some large squares of material I wouldn't dare use in a quilt and began my training in free motion quilting. First attemps were crude, but I can see how practice will improve my stitches. Woohoo!

Patricia said...

You might want to have a "heart to heart" and give Sydney "permission" to throw in the towel (with spanish that is). She might surprise you and not do what you would expect. If she does, let her know this is her last "get out of jail card" and that once she uses it, she may nto get another opportunity to make such a decision, so she should think long and hard about what she wants to do. We tried this once with one of the kids and he really thought long and hard about using this "card"---in the end he didn't. Just be sure you are ready to support her decision, and remember to not (at least not let her know) allow this to happen again (at least not so easily). If her withdrawing from spanish is not an option, maybe a tuitor might help. Sometimes we are too close to our children to really teach them anything (you know parents aren't very smart---at least not to our children)...all of our kids learned to drive in a formal Driver's Ed course. Some times we as parents draw a line in the sand that isn't worth it in the long run. Just a thought--. Take care!