Caped Soccer Player

Faster than speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. . . . Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's my son at his soccer game. Last year soccer was fun for the first few games. Then my son got bored trying to score or take the ball away from other kids. He didn't like that. Then we watched the world cup, and he seemed to have found his place in soccer--goalie. He was the only three-year old I know who dressed for soccer in goalie clothes and gloves and sat in the goal waiting to block other kids' shots. The problem is that at this age, the coaches don't really encourage or allow that very often. Thinking he'd be excited, we signed him up for soccer again this year. Since there are no goalies, our son has once again found a way to make the game his own, this time by wearing a cape. I don't think soccer really interests him much anymore, but since he still has fun doing it he might as well bring into the game his love of super heroes. Although he gets to run a lot and follows whomever has the ball, he tended to get lost today watching his cape flap in the wind. I even caught him striking a superhero pose--hands on hips, chest up, one foot on the soccer ball, cape flapping in the breeze, looking straight at me with an "I really do look like a superhero, don't I?" expression on his face. The first game last season, I was excited to watch him score a goal. Toward the end of last season, I was excited to watch him blocking goals. After a few games watching him looking not very interested--which still irks me a little because he's so good--I felt the same excitement when he added the cape to his soccer uniform today. I'm learning a lot about him and admire his ability, imagination, and creativity to make of his circumstances whatever he has to to love it. He definitely made that soccer game his own today. I'm not sure he even touched the ball when it was in play.