Following Her Dreams

Ashley at a soccer game
Originally uploaded by Beth.

Remember the kid in high school who was quite sadly living his parents’ dreams instead of his own? I’m trying so hard not to be that kind of parent.

Ashley is our only daughter. Maybe that’s the reason I compelled her to take dance lessons every year since she was 3. It was more coercion that led to piano lessons and the Nutcracker. This is the first year I told her she didn’t have to do either. Her real love is the soccer field.

Playing on a co-ed team puts her at a distinct disadvantage since she is slight of build and rather petite. Her physical smallness never stops her from standing up to the biggest of the boys. I’ve seen her on more than one occasion get in a boy’s face, twice her size, and tell him how it’s going to be.

In a couple of weeks we start volleyball and then later in the fall, basketball. Since she is part Hoosier (my side of the family tree), I’m sure she will do quite well. In addition to such a distinguished heritage, her Dad is not half bad on the basketball courts—I have heard he rarely misses a three pointer! Maybe her genes will serve her right.

Though I would prefer dance recitals, music halls, tap shoes, and tutus, our slight, little, built like a ballerina child refuses to let her stature stop her. Look out wide world of sports—here she comes (dragging her mother in tow)!