Constant material

The school year ended today along with my substitute teaching job.  I know, I'm sad too.  I already miss the kids and I definitely am going to miss the paycheck.  But I think what I'm going to miss the most is their constant antics, which continually made for great blog stories.

I was a little concerned yesterday that I would run out of things to write about.  Without high school kids saying crazy things, what would I share with the world?  I told this to my best friend Rula and she assured me that I would always find something to write about.

Oh man, was she ever right.

I went to Kaitlyn's best friend's soccer game last night to support the children and found myself surrounded by middle-aged, Midwestern parents.  These people are hilarious.  Every single one of them was decked out in their favorite $5 high school t-shirt and had come equipped with a blanket, stadium chair, and paparazzi quality camera.  Throughout the game they screamed and cheered with an excitement level that rivals that of the World Cup.  Parents were crazy into it. 

Maybe a little too into it. I think it's safe to say that not a single parent of these children played soccer past the high school level.  Most of them probably just played a playground version once and then quickly switched to kickball after finding it to be more exciting.  It's likely that the parents really don't know that much about soccer.  This is why it's baffling to me that they would get so impassioned.  I just couldn't understand how they knew more than me.

And then, in the midst of shouting at refs, cheering for the girls, and calling out wildly for the smallest of plays, one mother shrieked out to a child, "Word to your mother!"

Word. To. Your. Mother.  That's what she said.  And here's the kicker, this was met with absolutely no response whatsoever from anyone!  She shouted out what I perceived to be the most ridiculous of all sports cries, and every single parent accepted this as completely appropriate.  It's totally weird, right?!  Whatever, it just proved to me that these parents don't know more than me about sports and are actually just crazy possessed with love for their children.  Which of course makes for even more blog material.