Blog Brain Dump

Eight more days until school begins. I'm sad and happy, all rolled into one. This summer has been extremely busy, but I've enjoyed having my little chicks roosting in the nest so I could tend to their every want and need. It comforts me to no end having them at home with me. Granted, 90% of the time, they are upstairs playing with each other and not interacting with me, but I can hear their little voices and footsteps nonetheless and know they are safe and sound. Yet, in 8 days, I'll be sending them off to school again and my heart breaks a bit.

Oh well, I know I'll get over it soon enough. That first trip to the grocery store without kids will be joyful, I can assure you. And, I'll be able to go to Goodwill without complaints (from them) or promises (from me) to buy them a toy or a book.

We signed Elisan up for some "real" soccer this year. The league that we play in is offering a specialized league for kids who want "all soccer, all the time". Practices are 2x a week and weekend games will be all over the Austin area. So far, she's enjoyed the practices and I think it will be good for her.

So, last night we were at practice. Practices were delayed because a storm was passing over producing a lot of lighting so all of the parents and kids gathered up and waited for the storm to pass (without rain, I might add!) Anyway, while we were waiting there, I noticed a group of 10 year old girls huddled together making a lot of noise - squealing, hollering, laughing, etc. So, my attention was drawn to them and I noticed this one girl in particular. She was a very pretty girl and apparently the ring leader of the group. I began to watch her and honestly, her behavior was abhorrent. She was rude and mean and a few times I noticed she hit the other girls. After about 10 minutes of watching her humiliate the other girls, I noticed that she began filling her mouth with large amounts of water and was spitting it out at the other girls! Seriously people. I AM NOT KIDDING!

I could not believe my eyes. Where were the coaches? Where was this girl's parent? Where were the parents of the other girls? And whats more... the other girls just sat there and let her spit on them. Oh, sure, they were squealing and telling her to stop, etc., but none of them got up and walked away. They sat there laughing until it was their turn to be spit on. It was truly disgusting and I had a good mind to walk over to that girl and tell her how terribly inappropriate she was acting. BUT... I didn't. Why not? Well, because this girl is in Elisan's soccer group. She's not on Elisan's team, but she's apart of the 8-10 year olds that practice together. I didn't want this girl to retaliate against Elisan for something I did.

It grieves me to no end to see this kind of behavior. It grieves me to see other girls taking the abuse that this "mean" girl was dishing out. It grieves me to see the other girls still wanting to be her friend because she was pretty and popular. It grieves me that no one bothered to step in and stop her... including me.

What would you have done? I mean, seriously? I think now, looking back, I would approach this girl's coach and have him handle it. She's more likely to respond to a person in authority rather than some random mom (who's sole intent would really be about) embarrassing her in front of her peers.

It's apparent to me that vigilant prayer is in my future. Oh, who am I kidding... vigilant prayer is needed now!