Soccer

Tyler recently started playing soccer. Tyler's team, the Barracudas, mostly consists of children who have already played soccer for a few seasons. Tyler's the youngest one on the team, and he's most definitely the comic relief for all parties watching the game. He has NO CLUE what he's supposed to be doing.

Tyler wants nothing to do with the large mass of children chasing the ball. He prefers to stay right by his coach's side and mimic everything Coach Eric does. If Coach gets down on one knee, Tyler gets down on one knee. If Coach stands still to watch the team, Tyler stands still to watch the team. If Coach picks up the ball, Tyler picks it up next. No clue.

Rather than kick the ball during the game, Tyler prefers to kick the ball during time-out when no one else can challenge him or when the teams are lined up waiting for the whistle to blow. Tyler has no use for whistles. The ball is there, untouched, and he goes for it. The poor ref has to explain to Tyler at least 5 times every game that he can't kick the ball until the whistle blows. I can only imagine Tyler's thought process when the ref is trying to explain the rules to him...."Uh, whatever. It's a ball. I kick the ball. I run. What whistle? That guy doesn't know how it's done."

While the other players are swiftly trying to score goals, Tyler amuses himself (and us parents) by walking on the field lines like they are balance beams, swinging from the top of the goal (they're short for the little players), and sitting indian-style inside the goal when he gets tired. For some reason, he also like to pull a Michael Jackson and hold his privates when he gets real excited during the game.

Hopefully, Tyler will learn the ways of the game and enjoy soccer just as much as he does now. He will ALWAYS be my comic relief, my crazy one, and my special little man.