So what do normal people do on weekends?

I am about to find out.  Our club days have ended.  It's onto college soccer, but the season is so short, and I can't imagine that we will go to all of the out-of-town games.  So, the weekends are about to be free most of the time.  I am going to miss the club years.  We have loved watching soccer all of these years.  Who knows maybe I will just show up at the fields and watch some of the teams we know.  That will give me my soccer fix. 

Time flies.  Don't wish it away.

You mean we are not normal?

I'd be the first to admit that. We went to a party saturday night, and everybody was like yall are crazy! Our sunday was starting again with an 8:00 am kickoff, and they all just laughed in our face, as they continued to slug back their beverages as my wife and I were like, its time to go home and go to sleep!!

Dont remind me about this weekend just yet....i was at Pickneyville WAY too long lol

People ask me all the time how I do it, We just do! i hate rainy weekends, dont know what to do lol

Other people have honey-do lists a mile long. So do I, but there are obvious and good reasons for why it gets longer and not shorter.

Life changes so quickly. I remember the days when all of the parents had to drive their girls to practice. We walked and socializedas they practiced. At the end, we watched a bit of the practice. Once they all started driving, life changed. No more parents at practice, and we only saw the other parents at the games. Now if I have a reason to be at the field during practice I feel as if I need to stay hidden as I watch.

With graduation right around the corner, I am feeling nostalgic and am a bit envious of the crazy soccer lives you all still lead. I read this poem on Facebook, and it applies to so much in life.

This poem made me step back and think. It's so easy to wish away time. Any of us could probably write a similar poem that deals with our soccer years. There are so many "last times" that we never really realize are the "lasts".

The Last Time
From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,

you will never be the same.

You might long for the person you were before,

When you had freedom and time,

And nothing in particular to worry about.

You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,

And days will run into days that are exactly the same,

Full of feeding and burping,

Whining and fighting,

Naps, or lack of naps. It might seem like a never-ending cycle.



But don't forget...

There is a last time for everything.

There will come a time when you will feed your baby

for the very last time.

They will fall asleep on you after a long day

And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.

One day you will carry them on your hip,

then set them down,

And never pick them up that way again.

You will scrub their hair in the bath one night

And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.

They will hold your hand to cross the road,

The never reach for it again.

They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,

And it will be the last night you ever wake for this.

One afternoon you will sing 'the wheels on the bus'

and do all the actions,

Then you'll never sing that song again.

They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,

the next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.

You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your

last dirty face.

They will one day run to you with arms raised,

for the very last time.



The thing is, you won't even know it's the last time

until there are no more times, and even then,

it will take you a while to realise.



So while you are living in these times,

remember there are only so many of them and

when they are gone,

you will yearn for just one more day of them



For one last time.

Author unknown



Good luck to all of you this weekend! Enjoy the weekend. It's just Memorial Day weekend for us. No soccer for the first time in quite a few years. What will we do?

Great poem! It made me want to cry....who's cutting onions? Lol! Seriously, the soccer season can be a tipsy-turvy bunch of pure madness where I don't know where I'll be from one day to the next but have no doubt...I don't have a single regret and I'll bet everyone here feels the same. I never would have spent as much time with my kids as I have thanks to soccer. I owe the sport a lot.

I agree.  We owe a lot to competitive soccer.  We had some great vacations built around playing soccer.  Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Phoenix, NJ (NYC).  We traveled as a family and usually took a few extra days to see the area.  More important, my daughter learned to manage her time. Had she had more of it each night she probably would have been less disciplined and gotten less done.  Instead she came home every day and immediately opened her books.  The goal of playing in soccer also gave her something to work for both on and off the field.  She knew she needed constantly improve her game, but she also knew that good grades were important.  I know we spent a lot of money over the years. However, we believe it was money and time well spent.  She will graduate in a couple of weeks with honors and is getting both academic and athletic scholarships. It hasn't been easy and she's missed some things she would have liked to have gotten to do.  Still, she probably wouldn't change much about these years, and we have never regretted our soccer years.

Thanks so much.  We are proud of her.  But, I will tell you that she is pretty typical when it comes to so many that she plays with, she is pretty typical.  The grades and SAT/ACT scores of her teammates amaze me.