Stress

The Boy plays football. Despite the fact that this is his third year playing, it is the first time he's been on a 'real' team that has good, consistent coaches. I say that because The Husband is one of the coaches. Just kidding! Like I said, he's on a good team. Their record is 4-1-2. They finished the regular season in 2nd place so last week they were in the playoffs. They won their game and tomorrow is the 'Superbowl'.

We are all very excited about this game, as is the rest of the team. The Boy and The Husband have been working really hard all season and The Boy has become almost indispensable. The problem with that, though, is the unexpected pressure that comes along with being indispensable. We didn't see it coming.

Thursday night, the team had its final practice before tomorrow's game. At some point toward the end of practice, The Boy went down. He hurt his leg. We thought, at first, that he'd pulled his hamstring. We later realized that was not the case. He spent all day icing and resting his leg, taking Motrin, and taking it easy. This evening, he was acting funny - he was no longer consistent with his pain. I went into his room to talk to him about it. Finally, it came out that he was exaggerating the injury now because he was concerned that he might let everyone down if the team does not win tomorrow. OMG - can you break my heart any more?! The Husband joined us and I explained what was happening. The Boy melted into a puddle of tears. Our poor little guy!! He's not even 10-yrs-old and he is already feeling the pressure to be whatever everyone expects of him. (OK - part of it is self-induced...he is a bit of a perfectionist.)

We have settled him down and he has gone to sleep. Both The Husband and I assured The Boy that we will love him and be proud of him no matter what the score is tomorrow. All we want is for him to play hard and have fun. I hope he understands that.

It'd be so much easier if kids came with instructions!