Mamas on the Field

Our daughter told us last week over the telephone that our three-year-old grandson had begun his soccer lessons. I tried to imagine this sight--Cole with his official soccer outfit on as a rather big boy for his age (thirty-nine inches in height and thirty-seven pounds in weight). He also still wears diapers and has a pacifier. Evidently, according to his mom, he did quite well kicking the ball and having a lot of fun with his fellow players. He liked it so much he wore his uniform all day. According to the rules of the lessons, the mamas are allowed to stay on the field for the first ten lessons and then must leave the field for the remaining ones. It seemed to me that this rule was rather symbolic of the upcoming independence of the children.

If I equate one soccer lesson to one year of a child's life, I believe it is about ten years of age that children begin to break their previously close bonds with their parents. Up until then the child has no trouble sitting in a parent's lap or submitting to frequent hugs and kisses. After age ten, parents tend to become somewhat of a burden to the child's independence. He or she does not want to be seen with a parent and will resort, as our son Chris did about this age, to lying on the floorboard of the car so as not to be seen with us.

I am filled with nostalgia as I think of all the days, hours, and even years that went by so quickly during the first ten years of our children's lives. We, like most families today, were so busy with full-time jobs, church activities, or after-school programs that we did not savor the moments of childhood when mothers could still be on the field. Since we symbolically left the field at age ten, we have found ourselves now in the position of adviser and supporter. We long for the old days of being on the field with our little ones.