Lochlan at 9: More Friends and More Baseball

One thing is for certain, sports is in the horizon for the foreseeable future. Lochlan started on his first recreation soccer team just before turning 9. Did he enjoy competitive soccer over the social play time that he experience in 4 years of KidzLoveSoccer? The initial answer to that question was NO at the start of the season. As the season progressed the outlook changed for the better. Overall I think what he is really looking forward to in his 9th year is a return to the baseball field. His love for the SF Giants is real.

For their second grade year, I opted to keep the twins together and we choose to do the same thing for 3rd grade. The twins got one of my favorite teachers at Guadalupe. I’ve been working with her for over 8 years now and she truly is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. While their second grade year ended horribly with horrible substitute, starting third grade with their new teacher was a wonderful experience.

Lochlan has struggled for years with his lisp and we were expecting in second or third grade for him to start getting more help with his reading out loud at some point during his elementary. This fall he began with the reading resource teacher and is already showing great improvement. I am familiar with this same struggle. I am still, as an adult a terrible reader, especially when it comes to reading out loud. I still get terrible anxiety when I have to read out loud from a book. I am proud that Lochlan has flourished with his reading and will continue to build on his love of literature.

Friends has always been an interesting subject for Lochlan. When I look at his friendships I kind of see my childhood in him. Friendship for he and I can be like bull in a china shop sometimes. I learned later as a teenager spreading my anxiety for friendships out over many friends, kind keeps the whole idea of being “too much” to others in check. In second grade the twins were only back in school for maybe month. Unfortunately the problem we saw in first grade was still rearing its ugly head. In first grade Lochlan found it very hard to play the sports he likes (soccer and baseball) because he was not in a certain sports league.

Sadly in third grade the problem was still there! It has us seriously thinking about the future but Lochlan managed to make other friends in other sports or activities and moved past the drama. Social interactions are hard in third for girls but so far with the boys, it’s not too bad. We’ve only had one or two incidents, but both involved Lochlan standing up for a friend or loved one. We love that his first instinct is too look out for someone who is being bullied or harassed. Although we had to remind the kids again how using words to hurt or threaten others is not a option. Especially when talking about an imaginary knife. He was standing up to a boy who would not stop touching a girl in his class. The final straw is when the boy grabbed her from behind and lifted her up.

We love our sensitive boy, and having a boy is a whole new world for us as parents. I’ve been doing my best to instill in him to be more open about his feelings and struggles. Looking ahead for the big 10, I am super excited for Lochlan. Most of all to see him to return to the baseball field again. I am a little worried about him moving up in the ranks of baseball but that’s because of my own personal experience with baseball. Nine is when I stopped play soccer and baseball because it was becoming too much with my year round swimming. That and my dad was probably tired of all the erratic schedule changes.

In terms of school, I think Lochlan will have another great year. I am also looking forward to twins being apart in 4th grade. It’s been amazing to see the two of them work together the last two years at school. But I truly believe in letting them being their own person when they are outside of school. And if we can finally get this remodel off the ground, we could get the twins into their own rooms.