Tomorrow's the "Big Day!"

Tomorrow, the girls have their very first soccer games! Woohoo! I'm terribly excited! They're going to look so cute in their uniforms. Which reminds me... I better have them try it on, because if they're too big, I'll have to alter them tonight... (after all, fewer things could be as embarrassing as having your shorts fall down as you're running down the field...!)... Mika's first at 8 am and Marika follows at noon. Lucky for us that we live so close to the fields - we're planning to walk over, which should take only 10 minutes. I heard that parking is an absolute nightmare.

After Mika's practice yesterday, I asked how she liked playing soccer. "I like it a little," she answered truthfully. She's improved a lot since the first day of practice and she can definitely run, so we'll see how she feels at the very end. I do like her coach a lot (his wife is really cool, too) and she's having fun.

Yesterday, though, we had to sign a waiver saying that we would promote nothing but a positive attitude. We're not supposed to yell anything negative and we're not supposed to do any coaching at all. I don't know what that means! The coach's wife said that one season, some coach wouldn't even let them yell "Shoot!" whenever the girls got near the goal, because he wanted to figure it out on their own. It's going to be very strange trying to be quiet, after all these years of cheering/yelling teammates. I might have to be muffled!

Hopefully, our soccer banner will hold up (and nothing will fly away)! I look forward to seeing it up (it's 5x3 and will be suspended on 6-feet of rebar) so I can take proper pictures of my handiwork.

In other school-related news, I finally spoke to Marika's teacher yesterday and was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) that she had already heard of the playground incidences involving Marika. She also knows that I told Marika to stay away from the girl. The teacher had a long talk with her kindergarteners yesterday about being nice to others, because apparently one kid (a boy) told another kid (a girl) to go punch someone (a sweet little girl). They found her getting pummeled on the playground, curled up in a little ball! Isn't that just AWFUL?! These are 5-year olds! What is going on here?!

So Marika was lucky it wasn't her getting punched. I would have raised an incredible amount of hell if it had been. I'd already decided to be right against the playground fence and watch her during her last recess, just to make sure she's okay (and for my own peace of mind). Yesterday, the girl who picks on her wasn't on the playground because her mother volunteered (like I had) and took her home a little early. I'm still wondering if that mom thinks that my child did something unkind to her daughter. If I knew that Marika had spit on somebody, I'd go apologize to that mother, wouldn't you? I would have been totally mortified at her behavior and embarrassed that it reflected on my parenting abilities.

This situation is really stressing me out. I can't do anything more to protect my child unless something worse happens. I can't believe I even have to worry about this!

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Miscellaneous tidbits:

1. Need Michaels coupons? Here's one for 50% off one item (good next week) and 20% off your purchase (9/12 only).

2. Any B&N members who need in-store coupons? Here's one for 10% off one item and another for 15% off one item. Both expire 9/12.