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SALT LAKE CITY — It was a nutmeg of epic proportions that led to a perfectly executed Diego Maradona move and a dish-off to his teammate for a sweet goal-scoring opportunity — and guess who missed seeing it?
Me. His mom. The person who wears the “soccer mom” badge so proudly was not there to see the move that set the sideline on fire.
Instead, I was doing something related to wrangling toddlers in a non-toddler friendly environment. My guess is that I was standing inside a stinky outhouse, which is not necessarily preferred over the norm of trying to find a hidden bush for the potty-training child to “water” before ending up with a code yellow on my hands — and I mean that in the most literal of ways.
As a soccer mom, basketball mom, cheer, tumbling and whatever else mamma-jamma, I have learned that it isn't all drive-to-the-games-with-snacks-and-watch-every-move-my-child-makes-so-I-can-cheer. In fact, it mostly looks nothing like that.
But I'm not even a little bit upset that I missed my son's awesome moves in live action, because I was there supporting him the best I could. As a soccer mom, basketball mom, cheer, tumbling and whatever else mamma-jamma, I have learned that it isn't all drive-to-the-games-with-snacks-and-watch-every-move-my-child-makes-so-I-can-cheer. In fact, it mostly looks nothing like that.
For the past decade, I have learned that embracing the title of soccer mom means letting go of a lot of things willingly and gracefully. And over the years, I have loosened my grip on many of the following:
Having a clean car
Between traveling to practices, games and out-of-state tournaments, we basically have a second home that comes in the form of our 12-passenger van. Without giving out all the gruesome details, crunchy, sticky, stinky and all sorts of mystery wet are a few of its describing characteristics.
Having free afternoons and weekends
The school bell rings at approximately the same time the van horn honks, and Saturdays might as well be renamed "Soccerdays." I may very well petition for the name change and trademark it for future royalty earnings that I'm in desperate need of. Because ...
Let's not even talk about money
Soccer and any competitive sports for that matter, are rather pricey. That's all I'm gonna say about that because it makes me cry.
Being there for every momentous moment
I may have missed my son's sweet moves on the field that day, but it wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last. Whether I'm taking a toddler to the bathroom or unable to make the game because of another child's conflicting schedules, I have had to accept that there will be moments I will miss. Thankfully, there was another parent who was recording video, and my son also had the sideline support of his dad and other siblings — this time, anyway.
Even though my title of soccer mom doesn't look at all like I expected, and there are many things that have been sacrificed in the process, I wouldn't give up the title for any of it back. Being a soccer mom means I get to tag along as support crew for my children who have the drive and desire that I had at their age. It means I get to share in their life story however it turns out. It means we will have memories to last a lifetime — including that one time mom missed the nut-meg Maradona while taking somebody to the bathroom.
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