Those moments in life where you want to say a REALLY ugly word. This is one.

"PAY ATTENTION!" I mouthed to Caroline at tennis lessons the other night.

She had done so well.

"Wow!  Caroline is really doing great," one mom commented.

"Caroline is really good," another mom said.

Oh, stop it.

She is good.  She likes those one man sports that she only has herself to worry about.

She likes tennis therefore she is pretty good at it.

After such a great lesson, I was confused as to why she wasn't paying attention during the last part of class.

"PAY ATTENTION!  GET THE BALL!" I said a little louder this time.

As soon as it was time for ball pick up, Caroline ran to me with panic on her face.

"Caroline, go pick up the balls with everyone else."

"But MOM!"  She had a chunk of hair in her hand that was caked in gum.

Damn.  This is one of those moments in life where I wanted to say a REALLY ugly word.  Like really ugly.

What am I supposed to do?

I thought for a moment.

I did what any awesome mother would do... I tucked the gum wad/hair wad behind her ear, patted her on the butt and said, "Go back out there.  We will deal with it later."

"BUT MOM!"

"Caroline, I don't have time to deal with it right now.  I have had enough today.  I am over it.  Over.it.  I will deal with it when I get home."

She pushed on the gum to stick it to the back of her ear and ran out on the court to pick up balls.

We came home.

We tried ice.  It didn't work.

I was over it.  "Whatever, I am just going to cut it out."

"MOM NO!"

"Well Caroline, I don't know what else to do."

We went to the bathroom.  I took pictures to document this event.

First gum wad... check.

How did the gum get in her hair you ask?

She says it just fell out of her mouth and landed in her hair.

Nice.

What is even better is the fact that I didn't even know she had gum in her mouth.

Tennis went great!

Ryan woke Caroline up this morning.

It is his favorite thing to do.

He kisses the girls 100 times before actually walks out the door.

He was so excited about Caroline starting tennis today.

To say Caroline was not excited would be an understatement.

She wouldn't eat her breakfast because sausage and eggs would "hurt her stomach".

She settled for a big glass of orange juice and toast with grape jelly.

We all got dressed, brushed our teeth and hair.

I went to grab her racquet.  It was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is your tennis racquet?  It was right here last night."

"I don't know."

"Well, you better find it or you are just going to have to use one they have there."

She magically found it in 2 seconds flat.

We headed out the door.

Of course we had to stop so I could snap her picture before we left.

She didn't cry, she just moved really slow the whole morning.

When we got there, she hopped right out of the minivan (which I am still driving.  that's another blog post.  ugh!).

We filled out her paperwork.

She almost tuned up when lessons started and I tried to leave her.

One of her awesome coaches quickly took charge and started introducing her to everyone.

All in all, she had an awesome time.

She did really well.  She and her Dad have been practicing.

She is looking forward to Monday... as long as I stay in the minivan and watch her.

I can do that for a few more lessons right?

Water Break... 

Do you see her little ponytail over there?

So cute!

I am already googling tennis skirts ;-)

Say a little prayer. . .

I signed Caroline up for a tennis clinic that she will start tomorrow.


She will go every Monday and Wednesday morning until the end of August when school starts.

I am sure many tears will ensue when I wake her tomorrow morning.

She is scared to death I am going to leave her.

She is scared to death to do anything without me.

We have everything prepared.

Her racquet is ready.

We have dusted off her tennis shoes that have been stuffed in the back of the closest during the summer months.

Now, if you could just say a quick prayer that she enjoys it and has a fun time.

She needs this.

WE need this.

I want Caroline to do fun things and not worry.  We will try anything to ease her separation anxiety.  She has got to let go and do fun things!

So, here's to tomorrow. . .

Tennis and soccer.

Caroline has a new favorite sport

In the past few days she has decided she would like to take up tennis as a hobby.

Why you ask? Because her dad likes watching women's tennis... especially Caroline Wozniacki.


He says... and I quote..."It is much more interesting than men's tennis. The men just hit it back and forth."

Ok. Just admit that you like watching in-shape girls bouncing around a tennis court in a short skirt. I'm totally ok with that. Don't lie though. Tennis is tennis. FYI: Men AND women hit it back and forth. Duh!

Anyway, back to Caroline. Lafone not Wozniacki.

I told her to come lay down in our bed in hopes that she would go to sleep quickly.

I turned the TV on and of course it was on ESPN {Why are men addicted to this station?}

Caroline Wozniacki was playing some Kim girl.

Caroline {Lafone} was so excited.

"That Caroline. Like me. Caroline." she says as she pats her chest in a very proud way.

"Which one is she?" I asked.

Caroline gets up out of the bed so that she can touch the TV to point to her. "Right there, Mom. That Caroline like me." She totally rolled her eyes while saying this as if I was crazy for not knowing who Caroline was.

"Well who is the other girl?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Her name is Kim." No, I didn't really know it. I had heard the announcer say her name.

"Like Papa. Ken, like Papa."

"No Caroline, not like Papa. Papa's name is KeNNNNN not KiMMMMMM."

"Uh-huh. But that Caroline like me!"

Her dad has totally brain-washed her.

That's ok. When does soccer season start? We will be watching every game David Beckham plays. You know, because men's soccer is much more interesting than women's because the women just kick the ball around.