Family Adventures: Mid-September

Autumn is coming. The leaves on the maples are beginning to go slightly pale, a sign that they're getting ready to turn. School has begun for both Our Girl and me, too. It's also a time of year when weekends tend to book up quickly without much effort. I think it's a matter of everyone wanting to get out and do things before the weather gets cold.

Our Girl has also just turned seven, the age of reason. Life has gotten busier. Last year, we had her in dance class and one session of skating lessons. She's still in ballet and we plan on doing skating again but we've also added soccer now. She's in an after-school art program one day a week as well. I swear, it's not our intention to over-schedule her. It just kind of happens.

As I have written before, dance was her first love. As we were first looking to get her involved in activities, I really wanted her to have at least one athletic activity and one artistic one. The great thing about dance is that it satisfies both. Over the long-term, I do worry about the body issues. I knew a lot of dancers growing up and was not impressed by the toll on their self image once they hit puberty. Our Girl is a wisp of a thing now but that can change. We're in our third year with a wonderful teacher now and I don't worry about it so much with her. But I've said all along that if anyone ever tells her she needs to watch her weight, we're finished. We had her in two classes last year: ballet and tap. It was a bit much, especially with both on Saturday, but her teacher used the magic word to encourage her to join the second one: scholarship. Who can say no to someone who wants to teach their kid something for free?

The art program, fortunately, isn't really adding much to the overall schedule. We need after-school care four days a week anyway so the art curriculum is a bonus. I'm glad that she'll be spending time around people who know what they're doing. To be sure, she'll exceed our own abilities in the visual arts pretty quickly. Her handwriting's already nicer than mine.

Her soccer team had its first game today. It's a riot watching 6-7 year-olds play. The swarm follows the ball around the field, some trying to make things happen, some clearly not sure what to do at all. They lost 2-0. Our Girl said she had a good time. I'll reserve judgement as to her lasting interest until the end of the season.

We also went mini golfing with Mock and his family this weekend. It had been years since I'd gone and it was Our Girl's first time ever. There were seven of us in all: four adults, three kids. It was good fun and Our Girl did quite well, especially on the back nine. She had some frustrating moments but when it was over, she said she'd like to try it again sometime.