Tonight the boys play in their first basketball games of the season--William on the JV and Christopher on Varsity. Basketball is Christopher's love--I remember when he was five he told me he was either going to play football for the Georgia Bulldogs or basketball for the Louisville Cardinals (I personally thought he needed a plan C which may include studying but in one of my finer Mommy moments I kept my mouth shut--a true feat.) Boss no longer plays football, but basketball has remained his love. The sound of the basketball in the driveway is a perpetual sound--Thanksgiving he was outside for an hour shooting (in sub freezing weather because, "Can you believe it Mama? We're not having practice today or tomorrow!) Needless to say he takes it very seriously. And here is where two of my worlds collide.
Caroline's crush--you know the one EVERYONE in the school knows about--students, teachers, staff, coaches.. is also on the varsity basketball team. She stalks him pacing outside of the gym, peering into the weight room, and not being very quiet about it. Christopher and William have begged her to stop; they've asked me to punish her--it's interesting they think I have control over her; haven't they lived in this same house for 13 years? I have to admit there's a part of me that is in awe of her. When I was in 8th grade, I would have never had the nerve to go anywhere near a junior much less talk to him.
Until two nights ago, varsity was scheduled away while jv was at home--this caused great anxiety in our house. Obviously Chris and I were going to have to divide and conquer--Chris and I love being at the games and hate missing either. Caroline, however, was devastated. Varsity was away--hence she wasn't going. Mourning set in. But two nights ago our worlds changed. Varsity was moved home. I was excited--first varsity game played in front of a home crowd. I smiled Christopher shrugged; Caroline lept and jumped like a new born foal--keep in mind my new born foal is 5'10" and probably not the most coordinated of the four, around the den shouting, "YES, YES, YES!"
This morning Christopher woke up early-he's clearly a bit nervous but unlike his frolicking sister, he keeps his emotions pretty tightly in check. He got ready and sat in the den, head phones on, eyes closed. Caroline looked into the room and said, "Has he thrown up yet?" (note there was not a hint of empathy in her voice) "Not yet," I responded. "Well he will" she countered, "He always throws up before games--now he'll have to do it at school." (again no empathy, in fact I heard a tinge of glee--) I decided to attempt to have a conversation with her about tonight. "Caroline, tonight is a big night for your brother. Please act.." and here's where my adult vocabulary failed as I needed to figure out a way to stress the importance of what I was saying. "Please don't act like an idiot." Caroline, "So basically you're telling me not to act like myself?" "Hmmm," I thought never wanting to stamp on their personalities but also understanding the gravity of the night for Christopher--talk about feeling pulled, so I said, "Maybe just for tonight."
Stay tuned--I'm not sure how this will end.
No comments:
Post a Comment