Lying to Your Kids

I got caught in bold faced lie...by my three year old.

You know you try to do the right thing, read to your kids every night before they go to bed, say a prayer, and then think of an excuse to get the hell out of their room. They just want you to lay by them because it makes them feel safe and happy. Somewhere deep in your mind you remember how comforting it was to have mom or dad lay down for a few minutes and help you go to sleep.

For the past year after finishing reading with Alice I would say,  "I'm going to take a shower okay, time to got to sleep."

She would respond, "okay Daddy come in here after."

I dropped this little white lie because I knew that if I told her that, she would fall asleep when I was in the shower so I wouldn't be coming back to her room. Innocent ruse I would play on her because I shower at work after I get done working out, so I don't typically shower at night before bed. Most of the time I would just tell her I'm taking a shower and go watch the news or some sports.

Last night my bluff was called. "I'm going to take a shower, time to go to sleep Alice."

"Daddy?"

"What's up kido?"

"How come sometimes when you say you are going to take a shower I never hear the water come on?"

Damn, damn, damn. How do I squirm out of that one? I decided to come clean and explain that it's time for her to be a big girl and go to bed after we get done reading and praying. I apologized for not telling her the truth and was truly humbled by a three year old.

We want our kids to be happy and strong and in our want for them we end up protecting them from stuff that makes them happy and strong. Having her grow up and realize that someone isn't always going to be next to her making everything alright is just part of growing up...for both of us.

beingbenkeefe: Taking a Beating Like a Man

beingbenkeefe: Taking a Beating Like a Man: "I heard the game was a bit lopsided?" says Mrs. G. "Lopsided? Thanks for being kind." I replied. This was the email conversation I had...

Taking a Beating Like a Man

"I heard the game was a bit lopsided?" says Mrs. G.

"Lopsided? Thanks for being kind." I replied.

This was the email conversation I had with one of the kid's parents on my soccer team following our 15-1 beat down at the hands of Legacy Lady Fireballs. Legacy Lady Fireballs, the name alone should give you some expectation of what we will be facing in our first year of indoor club team soccer. After just typing that sentence I am beginning to understand the astonishment of my wife when I told her that Ruby's team would be playing U7 (that's seven and under - big difference than under seven) indoor soccer this Winter.

Pink Elephants, Yellow Bugs, White Lightning, and now the KC Kicks. In the two years we have been together we have gone from seven girls to nine and only losing one of the original seven along the way while gaining three more. So the Kicks are growing, becoming friends, and having fun. In an effort to increase our fun I signed up our team for the Winter session at the Tiffany Athletic Zone a brand spanking new facility in Northwest Kansas City. Originally, I signed up the team for U6 but the Director of TAZ asked me if we would be interested in playing U7. This is where communication between me (the coach) and the facilities director could have been much better. I was under the impression that she asked us to move up to U7 because they were short on teams in Girls U7 and they didn't have many Girls U6. Both are true but I construed them in such a way I thought it was in everyone's best interest if we moved up. Ultimately I think it will pay off but first we are going to learn to take a beating like a man.

Saturday was that beating. I swear it looked like the other team were pros. At least a head taller, built like tiny Hercules, fast as cheetahs, and with moves like Jagger they overwhelmed us. Remember, most of these girls we will be playing are seven years old, are all on club teams, practice three times a week, and play all year long. Next summer will mark the first full year of our team playing almost all year long with practices once a week. Thankfully, the Lady Legacy Fireballs are coached by an acquaintance of mine and he is using games against us like a competitive practice. The league is pretty inexpensive so it's worth it. They passed it around, back to their goalie, off the wall and nearly half volleyed one into the goal, it was breathtakingly good soccer.

Part way through the second half the assistant director came over and told the referee to stop  changing the score. It was 11-1 at the time. Nonsense, we kept score ourselves and I told the girls at the end of the game what it actually was and I told them to be proud of the game they played. We had a few firsts here that should be mentioned.


1. Our first game with a goalie (mind blowing to most of them)
2. Our first game indoors ever.
3. Our first 6v6 game.
4. Three new players on the team
5. Our first time playing a club team
6. We took our first penalty kick
7. We scored our first indoor goal ever

I love these kids, they never once put their heads down, cried, or got gave up. They may have been defeated on the score board but we won a victory in our hearts and minds. We are going to take some more of these defeats and as long as the parents can have the same intestinal fortitude as these little girls we will be just fine. We can play with anybody.