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Thursday, May 17, 2007

Hidden talents are squashed by a bushel

I am excused therapy duty due to an inability to communicate verbally without spitting on people. Spouse takes the boys to occupational therapy. My daughter and I finish off her homework and commence thumb twiddling.
“How about we play football on the driveway?” I suggest on a beautiful sunny Californian afternoon.
“You can play football?”
“Of course!” I lie. Since the boys refuse to go outside unless bribed and even then, only visit fleetingly amidst much squalking and far too much protective clothing, this is a rare treat for us both. It takes a while to find one soccer ball that hasn’t given up the ghost. We make do, as we don’t wish to waste valuable minutes locating a pump and other accessories. I open the garage door, which provides an extra wide goal. I take the road side. Together we play for just gone an hour.

“Gosh Mom. I didn’t know you could play football so well!” she offers breathily. I beam braces back at her, “did you have fun, just the two of us?” She grins, “yeah, can we play again soon?” Her words die on the wind as the family car pulls gently into the drive.

The boys exit the car in a manner indicative of someone yelling ‘fire!’ in an auditorium. Junior is gone in a flash, hands covering head, wailing through the cross fire of sun, light breeze and general outdoorsiness.

His brother tumbles out the car, Bambi, drunk on moonshine. He leans against the car as the seasick sailor does, waiting for the ground to stop waving. Not for the first time, I have cause to wish that Harry Potter's fireplace is rushed into commercial use. He shakes his head clear, a dog fresh from a bath. He pauses to survey the scene, blinks to clear his vision.
“You wanna play football with us,” she offers dubiously.
“No fanks. I hate soccer,” says the traitor to his European gene pool.
“Mom’s playing too!” she entices. He startles and looks around for me, even though I stand but 3 feet away from him, in front of him, not hiding behind a tree. When he spots me, he flinches as I come into focus, “oh dere you are! You play football?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“Shall we play together?” He looks at me and then his sister, patently bewildered but also looking for a legitimate get out clause. ……..
“Nah! Soccer is a girls' game,” he says nonchalantly, and saunters off at a jaunty gait. In the light of his previously expressed anti "sex discrimination" views, I am taken aback. There again, political expediency [translation = scapegoat] seems an exquisite intellectual development.

9 comments:

Haddayr said...

You write with such hilarity after the sucker-punch of the wistful girl who wishes she could play outside more often. Beautiful technique.

I love that your daughter calls it "football."

My son intentionally pronounces things like "quarter" and "roof" with his father's East Coast accent just to stab little icicles into my heart.

Melissa said...

I'm glad you got some time with your daughter!! :) It's so fun to have one on one time.

mumkeepingsane said...

Sounds like you and your daughter had a great time. I recently went to a sleepover with Matthew and it was magical for both of us.

Your boys have such wonderful personalities. They light up my life when I read about them.

mumkeepingsane said...

Sounds like you and your daughter had a great time. I recently went to a sleepover with Matthew and it was magical for both of us.

Your boys have such wonderful personalities. They light up my life when I read about them.

Mom without a manual said...

Precious moments with your daughter that will likely find special spots in both of your memory banks!

By the way, thanks for the heads up on the comments being off on my post. I am not sure how I managed that but I got it fixed. Thanks!

chrisd said...

Just the opposite around here. Our oldest plays soccer and ONLY soccer; my youngest will play it too.

Miss M will not hear of playing it-she was on a team w/all boys and they wouldn't pass the ball to her. The gall of those 5 year olds. Hmph

kristina said...

Girls just want to have fun, and do, tant pis pour les garcons! (Don't ask me why that came out not in English....)

Anonymous said...

Glad you and your daughter got to have some mom and me time. I need to remember how important that is with my youngest, when my oldest gets all the attention because of her special needs. It impacts everyone, no matter how much explaining I do. Football for an hour, you are a Godess!!!
Your boys sound like a lot of fun too! Have a good weekend. I enjoy your blog.

Gina said...

I am such an American that immediately thought that you were referring to American football.

Duh.

I'm glad you and your daughter got to hang out. It is the silly, unstructured times that they remember the best.

 
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