outdoors

Water, Sky and Reflections

September 6, 2023 /

I have asked my oldest to share some of his pictures for a couple blog posts this month and gave him a deadline so I am hoping to share those with you this month. For today, though I am sharing some shots from a walk/run last week while my son was at soccer practice. While I do not enjoy soccer practice time, I do enjoy the opportunity to walk around the 2.5 mile trail as it offers pretty views and some exercise. On this particular day, it has just rained so the sky and the puddles (large puddles) drew my eye.

This is my favorite shot of the evening! Look at the sun and the clouds! It is now my new home screen on my phone. Capturing the beauty around me creates gratefulness in my heart. If you do not live near the country side, there still may be beauty to capture in a person’s yard, a wildflower or archictectural beauty. I have been trying to see the world with more of an artistic eye thereby the two following pictures.

The school bus “depot” is near the soccer field and this bus bumper caught my attention. The chainlink fence in front adds dimension.

The bridge, the pond, the lights

I struggle with sports and children playing sport: I am all for physical exercise, playing with a team but I find that with my children it is a fine line between enjoying the sports and having to finish a season because they were signed up. That is usually a couple weeks adjustement where I have to convince them to go to practice because, yes they will eventually enjoy it.

To my shame, I am one of those parents who gets excited when practice gets canceled. I’d rather my child play outside with their friends in the neighborhood than drive them to practice. But this beauty does make it better! And playing sports does teach them different skills one of which is dedication and following through.

Like water, choices can feel murky: it is not always cut and clear what is best for your child. I like a balance of planned activities and spur of the moment ones, structure and freedom.

Just like rain is necessary for growth, struggle creates growth and adaption and resilience. Mommyhood can be a struggle, playing a sport can be a struggle but it all creates growth.

And there you have it, my philosophical blog post of the day!

A bientôt!

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12 Comments

  • Joanne

    September 6, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    You got some really lovely photos! I was often relieved that once my kids tried a sport they rarely wanted to sign back up again the next year. While I love the idea of team sports a 5 night commitment and then sometimes adding in games and such on the weekend was just much too much for me. LOL

    • mimifce

      September 7, 2023 at 9:09 am

      I definitely don’t like the commitment when it involves more driving on my part and trying to convince the boys to be happy about going to practice.

  • Marsha Banks

    September 6, 2023 at 5:00 pm

    Such gorgeous photos, Mireille! Very artistic, too!

    I remember, one summer, my oldest played t-ball two nights a week and had swim meets the other two. I was dragging two little kids around with me, and it was too much. My oldest didn’t even really care that much. The next summer, two of the three were swimming. All three eventually did summer swimming, and I loved it because of the social side of it for me!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    • mimifce

      September 7, 2023 at 9:08 am

      I enjoyed pausing to take those pictures. Soccer fields are mosquito ridden so I never hang out during practice lol!

  • Sally in St Paul

    September 6, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    Gorgeous photos! I enjoyed both the nature shots and the interesting bus photo. I think there are more than a few parents who feel relieved when practice is canceled – kid sports has gotten pretty serious compared to when we were growing up, I think. It sounds like you put effort into offering your kids a nice balance and variety of activities, structured and not, with good outdoor time, and I have to believe that’s a very healthy way to approach things.

    • mimifce

      September 7, 2023 at 9:08 am

      I didn’t grow up playing sports apart from PE and I came out alright so I feel the same way about my kiddos.

    • mimifce

      September 7, 2023 at 9:07 am

      Both are good, I will say, I like it a lot better when the sports are done with the school: much easier on schedule as there is a lot less back and forth.