Parenthood

Every so often, there is a movie you see that makes you say, wow, this is really me. For me, that movie is that 1989 gem, Parenthood. My family is very similar to the Buckmans, minus, of course, the horrible dad. My dad is just fine. Oh, and I don't have a nephew named, "Kool" but my siblings have not stopped having kids yet, so you never know, really.

Jon and I joke about that movie quite frequently. When Jack was little, we used to laugh that we had the Justin character. Jack would LITERALLY put buckets on his head and bang his head in the wall. We would say, "he likes to butt things with his head" and others would reply, "you must be so proud." Just like the movie.

Jack has moved from Justin to Kevin, the older boy, with the social problems. We sat in the school director's office the other day while they told us (what we already knew) that Jack has some social issues. He's disruptive in the class, hits other children and takes up a ton of the teacher's time. They are, by the way, so great and really want to help Jack. That said, I was thrown back in to that movie and almost shouted, "Jon smoked grass!"

On Saturday, we went to the soccer field for Jack's first game of the season. We played soccer for two seasons and in 16 games, Jack probably touched the ball twice. Maybe. We signed him up fully expecting the same "You made me play second base!" results. When we got to one of the practices, I heard another child say, "Oh, great, it's Jack B." I just died inside.

This Saturday, however, he was on fire. He was moving all over the place with the ball and even made one of the two goals that the team scored! Jon and I were so proud, we went screaming out to the field to hug him. When Jack scored the goal, I heard one of the kids say, "Did you see what Jack B. did? He scored a great goal!" I burst into tears.

Jack plays the field! (Thanks, Nicole for the pic!)

I was on a high about that game all day. I felt that nothing bad could happen to me. My son scored a goal in a four-year old soccer league!!!!

I keep thinking about the grandmother's quote when she was talking about carnival rides as a metaphor for life. She said, "I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it." You said it, Grandma, bring on the coaster.