Yesterday, the boys wanted to plant some seeds and we just happened to have some sunflower seeds on hand, not roasted, actual seeds for planting! They really enjoyed getting their hands dirty and figuring out which spots in the yard would provide the best environment for their seeds. The only instruction I gave them was that the flowers were going to need to get a lot of sun and that they should choose a spot in the yard accordingly. As you can see from the photo, one of the spots they chose is the whiskey barrel planter we have on the patio. And, yes, I realize they are wearing the same clothes that they had on the day before but Iain said they didn’t stink so they were ok to wear another day. They also planted some way in the back of the yard as well as next to the left and right sides of our wooden fence. It will be interesting to see if these seeds actually grow! They have been sitting in a drawer for two years so, I don’t know if they’ll make it. It was a fun exercise for the boys at any rate.
Yesterday was Iain’s soccer practice day and it was a rough one. He’s been struggling with practice this season because the coach has taken it up a notch and is trying to turn the kids into little David Beckhams or something. Don’t get me wrong, I think the coach is a sweet, fun guy, and he’s got an awesome wife and son. It’s just that we signed up for soccer so Iain could get a taste of what the sport is like and so he could just have fun being part of a team. We aren’t trying to manufacture the next great sports hero. I understand the coach’s motivation as there are a few players on the team who are really, really good and probably will go on to play at least at college level as they get older. However I think it does an injustice to the kids who signed up for the camraderie. The coach has started using that tone I described in an earlier entry, you know, “Why did you do THAT?! (you idiot)”. Iain was in tears last night and this morning over that. he said when the coaches spoke to him like that it made him feel like he was bad, getting worse. It broke my heart to hear him say that! We told Iain that it’s up to him to decide if he wants to keep playing soccer or not and this morning he decided that he’s finished with it. We’ll have to call the coach tonight and give him the news. I’m not looking forward to that quite frankly, maybe I can persuade Sean to do it. 🙂
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