a victory

March 17, 2010

My dd Lynn just attended her first soccer practice today at a local fairly

low-pressure league. She is not very athletic, is a bit overweight, and has

been teased recently by boys in her class about both (my husband and I were also

both nonathletic and overweight as kids). She has decided to try to work on her

weight and wanted to try playing soccer as she felt a little more comfortable

with that than with other team sports. This afternoon, she was very moody and

anxious, postponed using the bathroom for a long time and began to act as if she

didn't really want to go. It was a gorgeous day, so we went, got there a little

late due to traffic, had trouble figuring out which team was hers (there were at

least four or five practicing on the large middle school field), and she

discovered that she was one of only two girls. She did know a number of the

boys from her old school. She looked so dubious and unhappy at first, but I

backed off to keep an eye

on her younger sister and friend. The coaches were young, enthusiastic, and

encouraging. She ended up participating, kicking a few balls, and having a good

time. She is now looking forward to their first game on Saturday. I told her

how proud I was of her for sticking with it and riding out the anxiety. I had

pointed out to her that her coaches were both new, so probably anxious as well.

We talked about Harry Potter (always a great source of analogies in our house)

and how he found that waiting to fight the dragons was much tougher than

actually fighting them. While he waited, he imagined all that could go wrong,

heard the dragons roar at other contestants (without seeing what happened) and

the oohs and aahs of the crowd and imagined the worst. Once he actually had to

fight the dragons, he was so busy staying one step ahead of them that he didn't

have time to worry--he had to act!

Anyhow, just wanted to share one of our successes! We are having our ups and

downs, but the ups are all the sweeter. Hang in there those of you who are

stuck in the downs. Things will get better.

(mom w/OCD, 9 yo dd w/OCD)

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