This weekend, it was the kids’ last day of soccer camp. They had to change locations and even though it would be unfamiliar, I had no reason to think it wouldn’t be the best time ever (because they always have a blast at soccer). The class is so young and it’s mainly centered around games, so they get tons of energy out to begin their day. It’s great.

This particular day was not so great though, at least to start. Because it was a new location, my 5 year old daughter and 4 year old son were a bit unsure as we were walking up to the field. The field also had longer grass, so their shoes and socks started to get wet quickly from the rain last night. Yes, wet socks and shoes are uncomfortable. There was also a surprisingly large amount of water that got into my shoes, which made my socks squish, but the fact that it wasn’t a freezing day made it very tolerable. My kids did not think so and wanted to leave.

We spent about 10-15 minutes trying to convince the kids to just shake it off and go play soccer like all the other kids. I wasn’t sure what was throwing them off since they usually aren’t bothered by the weather too much either. They refueled and my 5 year old daughter walked off of the field and towards the car. My wife walked after her to talk to her and I was still on the field with the baby and my 4 year old son, who was not trying to play without his big sister. They are sometimes attached at the hip and they don’t want to be apart (when they aren’t fighting and screaming at each other). He wanted to stand there and wait for her and I tried to run around the field to get him to play. He chased me while I was holding the car seat and I knew he was playful, but still wanted his sister. Eventually I was frustrated at the situation and decided that we were just going to leave.

As we walked to the car and down the path, my wife was walking back with our daughter and corralled my son to go with them back to the field. I let them walk back to the field and didn’t go too close to observe what would happen. Surprisingly, they both went to play and I was shocked because when my kids get in a mood, they are very stubborn (probably a trait they got from me).

I asked my wife what she said to our daughter and apparently a quick conversation and insisting that she try to play, but that we would also take her shoes and socks off right afterwards was enough to tip her over the edge. I never would have guessed that would work. I’m glad that my kids built up some tolerance to be uncomfortable because life is uncomfortable as a whole at times. People have to tolerate it and to be persistent to keep things moving. That’s what my kids ended up doing and it is one notch in the column where you want there to be notches.