Standing with all the other parents in the pouring rain this afternoon watching Kit with his cheerleading squad cheering their first game was a bit of a watershed moment for me. For almost 2 years now I've been aloof, keeping my distance from other parents and just watching Tio and his ball games, Kit with his outrageous independance, Doc run around the playground, all without getting involved. But who am I kidding? I stood out there getting soaked today feeling really proud of this boy, proud of all of them really, and proud to be associated with them. This is the first organized team event that Kit has been involved in and I didn't realize until I was watching him out there how badly I wanted him to enjoy it and feel like a success. I wanted to turn to all the other moms and say 'that crackerjack in the middle is my grandson!'.
The thing is, they already know it. Just because we're not making chitchat doesn't mean they aren't aware of who belongs to who (notwithstanding him being the only boy on the squad). More than that, we have 3 boys in 3 different schools. Like I'm going to go unnoticed? Slowly, one at a time I've been connecting with other moms to find out how they're handling their adolecent boys, charting girl and bullying issues and so forth. I'm anything but invisible and I guess it's time to own it.
The thing is, all three are trying as hard as we adults to make life work here and for all the ups and downs, they're doing a damn fine job. They really are wonderful boys.
