przed: (tt footie mark's feet)
przed ([personal profile] przed) wrote2012-08-08 12:41 am

Soccer Report, and Stuff

Tonight, we won! Decisively! The final score was 4 - 1.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the other team only had 4 players show up, and the ref let us play 4 a side. (We just had 7 players, but that was enough that we could give the kids regular rests so they weren't knackered like the other team.) But everyone mostly had fun, and Ros continues to improve, so yay all 'round!

In non-soccer news, this morning I did my first Tae Kwan Do class in two weeks--couldn't go for a week because the Sweetie had the car up north, the class starts before the subways starts running, and I didn't feel like getting up at 5 a.m. so I could walk to class, then the studio was closed last week--and I've massively messed up my elbow. My left elbow. Did I mention I'm left handed? (Apparently I was a leetle too enthusiastic about throwing those jabs this morning.) I got a million acupuncture needles in it tonight, and I'm hoping resting it for a bit is going to do the trick. Darn this getting old thing.

I'm also finding myself rather more gutted than I would have thought over the news that Gary Barlow and his wife lost their baby over the weekend. I think in part because it's dredged up a lot of the crap I went through dealing with fertility and adoption and desperately wanting a child. But also just because it's a horrendously awful thing to happen to anyone. And I hate that it took a tragedy for a member of Take That to get mentioned in our local paper.

I'm also struggling with what, if anything, to tell Ros. She loves babies, and was interested in hearing about Mark's baby, but I don't know that she needs to know that a baby has died. It's not that I want to hide her from mortality. She's already dealt with deaths in the family. She was two when my dad died, and five when my aunt died last year. While she was sad when my dad died, and kept asking where grandpa was, she was very deeply affected by my aunt's death. But Take That is just a fun, happy place for her, and I don't want to take that away. Though if she remembers Gary was supposed to have a baby and asks about it, I'm not going to lie.

[identity profile] asilia.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
Congrats on the match :D

The news about Gary and Dawn really got to me as well... I get a lump in my throat every time I think about it, so sad. I don't even want to imagine what it must be like for Dawn :(

I hope if Ros asks about it, you'll find a way to explain it to her. And hopefully there'll be happy news about Rob's baby soon!

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:07 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

The news about Gary and Dawn was just so shocking. I found out on Tumblr and actually cried for a bit. And then got the hell off Tumblr. Like you, I just can't imagine what Dawn's going through.

Fingers crossed about getting good news about Rob's baby very soon. (Though I also just keep thinking how hard it will be for Gary and Dawn to face two new babies when they don't have their own.)

[identity profile] asilia.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:09 am (UTC)(link)
I came across the news on Twitter because suddenly people were like "Oh no, poor Gary!" so I googled it and bam! They seem like such a great and loving family, it's just so sad :(

And I agree, it must be even harder with Mark having his baby girl and Rob's being born soon... I mean, they must have been talking about this, all having newborn girls at the same time and so on :/

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
They must have been talking about it. And speaking from personal experience, it was hard enough trying for a child and then waiting for our adoption while seeing all my other friends with babies. I can't imagine how much worse that is when you've actually lost the child.

[identity profile] callistosh65.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
Yay, you won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm chuffed for you and Ros.

That kind of news is always a little heart breaking. My fertility treatment roller coaster is a long way behind me now, but I do get a tug whenever I hear of people going through this.

And you are a wise and thoughtful mommy, my freind, so I have no doubt you will handle anything Ros asks if the time comes.

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
Ros is really coming along with the footie now, which makes me happy.

The fertility treatment roller coaster is a horrendous thing. I'm sorry to hear you went through it ::hugs::

I don't know about being wise and thoughtful, but I'll try.

[identity profile] draycevixen.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 09:35 am (UTC)(link)

Great news about the footie as it'll boost their confidence too.

I'm sorry to hear about your elbow and hope for fast improvement. ♥

As to what to tell Ros, follow your instincts. As you say, the important thing is not to lie. Even kids instinctively recognize the difference between "I don't need to tell you everything" and lying.

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
Playing four a side wasn't actually a bad thing for us as it meant the usual clumping wasn't as bad as usual and they got some good breakaways happening.

The elbow is irritating. I'm just going to have to be good at resting it--never my strong point--and hope it heals quickly.

I always go for not lying, even if that means tackling some difficult questions, or it means sometimes saying "I don't know," or "you don't need to know that now." Ros is smart and sensitive and seems to have a good built-in BS detector so we always try to be straight with her, as much as it appropriate.

[identity profile] sc-fossil.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
Yay for the win, but man, it's sad news when anybody loses a baby. Take care!

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 12:25 pm (UTC)(link)
A definite yay for the win.

But yeah, that news was just horrible to come across. And it was supposed to be such a good month for the band, with three babies on the way for various members and a (rumoured) prime spot in the Olympics closing ceremonies. Now it's all so sad, and I'm hoping they don't feel obliged to do the Olympics performance.

[identity profile] moth2fic.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 10:39 am (UTC)(link)
Congratulations on the win, and gentle hugs for the elbow!

The news about the baby was 'headline' news on my iGoogle newsfeed - very sad indeed.

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-08 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The win, however dodgy, was great news for the team. The elbow is irritating, but I'm trying to be good and not use it too much. (Not using your dominant hand is bloody difficult, though.)

If the news about the baby even made a Toronto paper, I can only imagine how pervasive it was over there. Very sad.

[identity profile] rosie55.livejournal.com 2012-08-09 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay for the match success - and it sounds as though everyone had fun, too so that's great when the match could have been called off.

The news about Gary and Dawn's baby is very sad - all those months of joy and anticipation gone in an instant. I'm perhaps particularly sensitive to that at the moment as my daughter is expecting her first baby next month.

I don't think there is anything harder in life than losing a child. I hope you find a way to talk to Ros about this if she asks. We are not good as a society at dealing with death in these days, and probably we all like to think that childbirth is "safe" as, of course, mostly, it is.

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-09 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Initially the other team were going to default and we were going to lend them a player and just do a friendly. But the ref was okay with us going four a side, and it meant they all got to run around a bit, which is entirely the point.

That news is incredibly sad, and I can understand you being extra sensitive about it. (Best wishes for your daughter!)

We always try to be honest with Ros, even about difficult topics like death. Which can be hard, for us as well as her. (After my dad's funeral Ros was trying to wrap her head around the burial, and was asking question after question about the process. I tried to answer her as best as I could, but I finally had a bit of a wobbly.)

[identity profile] rosie55.livejournal.com 2012-08-09 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the good wishes. I should have said "at least in Western Society" about the safety of childbirth, of course but I'm hoping West London Maternity facilities come up trumps for my daughter!

I can imagine why you had a wobbly in the end, too about all the questions about your father's funeral. And I think that as they start to be able to understand such things, and to feel empathy our children sometimes need to know that we too can have doubts and fears and sad feelings. Not all the time and not too heavy but just now and again. I can remember once my children were reproaching me for some aspect of parenting they considered I had got wrong (like not allowing them to watch certain programs or play certain games on the computer or something like that, I expect!)and I told them that there was no absolute right way of parenting that parents could read from some magical rule book and guarantee was perfect and that we all had to work it out as we went along, according to our own values and our own children. They seemed quite surprised by the thought that I didn't claim to know it all or always to get it right, I seem to remember! You just have to go with your gut feeling on some things and it will be different for your child than it was for mine.

I always think how lucky Ros is to have such caring parents who allow her to get the most out of life but also try to treat her as a person.

[identity profile] przed.livejournal.com 2012-08-09 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure the West London Maternity facilities will be brilliant.

I treat parenting like I treat teaching. Sometimes you have to admit that you don't know something, and then you go and do your research and make the best decision you can. But you're right that things are different for every child. And frequently they're different for the same child on different days.

Our goal is to raise Ros to be a smart and independent kid. I'm sure we don't always get things right, but we try.