My three year old daughter is now playing soccer. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Little three year old’s running after the ball. Well it just so happened that soccer season started three weeks ago. The first mistake we made as “rookie parents” was we procrastinated. We went to get the required black socks, shoes, and shorts, the night before her first practice. The stores where out of black socks.
We got over that. Not much we can do. My brilliant husband suggested that she just wear his black socks. It turns out black socks are not mandatory till game day anyway. The first game was supposed to be on Saturday September 17th. Game was canceled, the second game September 24th, also canceled. Now my husband and I have snack duties for the the first game which we are hoping will be October 1st.
The only problem is we have no idea what to bring. I posted on facebook for suggestions from other experienced parents. Rather than helpful it turned out to be more overwhelming. I had never thought about allergies, and what other parents weren’t going to like. I sit down and have a conversation with my three year old who is wise beyond her years and I ask her, what do you think we should bring for snacks? Her response mom,”you are such a rookie, you don’t know what to bring.”
I never had parents that were involved when I was growing up and the truth is I lived on a mountain top on a ranch with no electricity when I was three. My husband had a more standard American lifestyle, the only thing is… he grew up in Hawaii. Where for snacks the kids get spam musibi’s (spam, and rice wrapped with seaweed), which I’m sure some parents in the east coast would not agree upon.
So essentially we are rookie parents, we are living away from our families and do not have the extra support from grandparents or close by relatives. It is much harder, but at the same time it is a freedom to raise our child the best way we see fit and to learn everything together. I’m quiet sure we are not the only rookie parents. This experience of not knowing what to do has taught me that really everybody at some point did not know what they were doing, but eventually figured it out. I’m not going to be a rookie parent for the next one, that’s for sure. Now what snack to make for the game on Saturday?