Kids who think outside the box!

It’s twilight, soccer season, my older son,
my eight year old is on the field, and he’s the
goalie. It’s a practice game in the evening.
The score is tied. The field is well lit, almost
glowing, against the chilly November sky. This
is what it is all about. I’m a soccer mom; he’s
a soccer kid. Oh my gosh . . . the ball is coming
to him. I’m so glad I pushed him to all
those practices. I know it wasn’t easy for him,
he wasn’t that athletic, but I thought no pain,
no gain.

“Morgen, you can do it honey, look alive,
the ball is coming right to you,” I yelled in a
voice filled with support and hope for both
him and me. Whew! He’s in position, ready
to get that ball. “What’s going on,” I thought
to myself. He’s looking at the sky, not the ball.
Maybe at eight years old he has his own strategy.
“Morgen, look at the ball . . . look at the
ball . . . look at the ball.” I yelled as I clapped
my hands, cheering him on. The ball was moving
down the field, right toward my son the
goalie. Morgen again looked up to the sky and
not at the ball. Maybe at the age of eight he was
spiritual and was praying to God for a win.
With one last kick from the other team, the ball
was coming directly at him. “Easy recovery,” I
thought to myself. Then to my horror, while
my eight year old was engrossed in something
celestial, the ball went right through his legs
and the other side had scored a goal.
“What were you doing?” I yelled from the
sidelines. With a gleam in his eye, he turned
and looked at me as he pointed to the sky.
“Look Mom, I think I spotted a double star.” I
wanted to cry. Not because we lost the game
and not because he missed the goal. I wanted
to cry because I was trying to make my
wonderful, bright, scientific child something
he was not and never could be. Now it was
time for him to feel good about what he was
about. From that day on, we didn’t look back;
we located programs and activities that utilized
the intellect, insights, talents, and wisdom.
We didn’t stop at go, didn’t push him to
be something he was not, and once we knew
we had a “kid who thought outside the box,”
our family hit the ground running.