The soccer game from he@#!

What a morning! The ground was damp when we woke up, and the rain had only begun. We bundled up with multiple layers, grabbed our umbrellas, and headed out. Josh was wearing so many layers that he looked like he was wearing football pads (too bad he wasn't; more details on that below). I made a hot cup of coffee, hoping that would warm me from the inside out. By the end of the first quarter, it was ice cold, just like the rain that steadily fell throughout the entire game.

Thanks to the wet grass, Jake had a hard time staying on his feet. He had mud on his backside even before the game began. Of course, he probably would have been on his feet more had sliding across the grass not been quite so much fun.

Early in the game, Josh scored the first goal. A short time later, Josh took another great shot, but it was caught by the opposing side. Fortunately for us, it was not the goalie that caught it, which granted us a penalty kick. Josh let Jack take it, and he scored. Not too much later, the opponents scored against Corwin, who made a great effort to block, but the wet grass interfered

Throughout the game, there was some tension among the parents, as a result of some rough play by one of the opposing players. He had been called with a foul in the first half, but that did not end his unsportsmanlike behavior. When he went head to head with Ali, he kicked her pretty hard. Shortly after that, she came to sit along the sidelines for a few moments. When I asked her dad if she had injured her ankle, he told me that Ali had been upset that the boy had laughed at her when she was on the ground holding her leg. She needed a moment to gather herself. The rough play continued, with growing concern from our team's parents. There seemed to be no effort made by the official or the opposing coach to remedy the situation.

In an attempt to regain feeling in my frozen legs, I started to pace the sidelines. Josh had an incredible breakaway, against the goalie and a couple of defenders. He made an incredible shot, right in the goal! Score 2 for Josh! Play continued until, once again, Josh took command and sailed another right past the goalie! Then, as he was heading back down for another try, the boy who had taken Ali down shoved Josh to the ground, hard. Josh lay there, writhing, holding his head. Julian, our coach, rushed onto the field to Josh's side. I stood there, not ableto breathe, trying to keep myself from running on the field. Julian was trying to get a look at Josh's head, but Josh had both arms up holding it. It was sickening to watch him lay there. So many terrible thoughts ran through my head....concussion, stitches, emergency room. Julian picked him up and got him to his feet, and helped him toward the sidelines. I could not stop myself from meeting them half way across the field. Once at the sidelines, I removed his stocking hat to see if there were any visual wounds. I couldn't see anything. He looked at me and said, "I am going back in." I could tell he was mad! I looked him in the eye and said, "Make him pay, but play fair...score one more." He went back in and....

scored one more!

Final score.....5-1 Josh ruled the field today!

My heart rate was still racing, even hours after the game. Seeing Josh laying there was terrifying. The boy was taken out of the game after that, but, the damage had been done. Had the official been doing his job, that boy would have been taken out early on, preventing several injuries. Just by watching the opposing coach and the parents from the other team, it did not seem to be the way this team was coached. They were good, but fair. It was just this one boy.

While my heart has finally slowed down, I'm still not completely calm. Josh has developed a headache, which has subsided with ibuprofen. I am curious to see how he feels when that wears off. I pray that it won't return. Thank God my baby is ok.