Soccer!

We signed CK up for soccer this spring, thinking it would help him acquire some social skills, make some friends, and have the chance to play a sport he and his dad really enjoy - together. (We're also grateful to our neighbor who "nudged" us into doing it with her son, also CK's age and it's been wonderful to share carpooling, camp chairs/blankets and conversation as we watch them play together. We love our smart neighbor.) Anyway, after CK had played a few weeks, his grades dropped - not because he was in soccer but because he "just aren't get it ..." - so his love for his soccer days became a bargaining tool, i.e., "If you get a zero (and we can easily check it on the school's website), don't plan on going to practice on Tuesday or the game on Thursday." It worked really, really well.

(Prior to being a parent, I didn't believe in bribery as a means of getting good grades or doing chores or whatever; I really believed it should be innate to do well in any task assigned, having pride in oneself for not only completeing the chore but doing it with excellence. That's the way I'm wired, I guess because after begging, threatening, pleading, even crying to my 4th grade boy child for months and months to "please, please, please hand in your assignments" or "Do it or else," - which never worked 'cause his circuit pack isn't wired either way, I now believe in bribery ... and we found what works: his love of soccer.)

The kid is actually really good. He's not afraid to get in there and take possession of the ball nor afraid of getting hurt for the cause. And it's not just because I'm his mom I say that: our neighbor, on two different occasions has pointed out that what CK does on the field is usually acquired knowledge, but (in this case) he just gets it and knows what to do.

We'll keep signing him up for soccer. Maybe his grades won't get him into college. Maybe soccer will take him there!