This is true of almost everything Caleb does. And it's proved true on the soccer field as well.
He opts for a casual saunter over the hustled pace his coach would prefer. But no one smiles bigger than Caleb when someone else has a really good run down field.
He's probably happiest sitting on the sideline with his teammates and discussing water bottles and the height of the grass. But he never lets those teammates (whom he all knows by name) depart from the field until he's given them a hearty goodbye and a "See you next week!"
He was truly distraught the day one of the coaches didn't see him standing there and tripped over him. The coach was quick to scoop Caleb up and assure him it wasn't his fault, but Caleb's heart of gold was concerned.
"I'm not going to knock that big coach over again," he told us every week after that.
Mostly, I think he's just thrilled to be outside, running around with a bunch of boys his age, getting high fived by parents and kids that tell him "Great job" after every game. He loves hearing about how Daddy played soccer growing up, and he loves that the whole family shows up each week to cheer him on. He doesn't notice that Abby's off playing with the bigger kids, or that Jacob's mostly interested in eating pistachios on the sidelines. He just notices that we're there, and he flashes us that great big grin that shows us he knows we're proud of him.
I'm pretty sure he didn't score a single goal this season. But if they were giving out an award for Most Team Spirit, he'd be the winner.
I couldn't be prouder of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment