They're all my babies

It's that time of year again.  It's time for the annual FC vs DE basketball game.  There are a few times every year when my Sophie puts on a jersey and competes against the girls who were her very best friends and teammates for the first 12 years of her life.  In the fall it is a volleyball jersey and last week it was the basketball one.  Then just a couple days later it was back across the net for JO volleyball.  These games are always so bittersweet.

Each game I try to be a loyal Eagles fan and cheer my daughter and her team on to victory.  But there is a huge part of me that looks at those Falcon girls as my very own too.  So I can't help but celebrate when they make a hit, a dig, a basket or a great catch.  Very often at games I get a lot of confused and unhappy looks from the fans around me.  Such was the case on Thursday night.  As I cheered for various girls on the opposing team I had a nearby fan ask me, "Who are you cheering for anyway?"  I laughed and explained, "All of them?"  This is one of those times where "sorry not sorry" would definitely apply. 

People have to understand what it is like to be a teacher.  For those 9 months that your child is in my room, they are one of "my kids".  I worry about them, I celebrate with them and sometimes I cry with them.  I treat them as I would treat my own with high expectations but with great joy and concern as well.  I spend more time with them than many of their parents do each day and we get to know each other very well.  Students will often talk with and tell their teachers things that they would never tell their own parents, especially about friends and friendships.  These kids become my kids and each one of them will always be one of my kids, even years later.  So yes, when I see one of them on the court or the field years later, I'm cheering for them.  I want success for them, not just because I still consider myself a Falcon (as an alumni and teacher), but because I want the best for "my kids". 

When you add in the fact that many of the girls on Sophie's team were literally her best friends then I have a real conundrum.  These girls were literally "joined at the hip".  They went everywhere together, did everything together, planned Halloween costumes together and exchanged gifts at birthday parties.  They knew everything about each other and yes, they loved each other.  Some of my favorite memories of Sophie as a little girl include Lauren, Marissa, Kendyl , Gracie, etc...   They became part of our family and will always be a part of our family. 

Moving Sophie from her tight knit group of friends was the hardest part of us starting our new life together with Tim and his family.  When Sophie first joined the Eagles I took an Eagles t-shirt and a Falcons t-shirt and sewed them together to show my divided loyalties.  That shirt has somehow disappeared from my drawer, but that doesn't stop me from being both a Falcon fan and an Eagles fan rolled into one. I will always cheer for ALL my girls, no matter what the crowd thinks.  As one of "my girls'" dads said, "Just tell those that ask that they are all your babies."  He may have said it with a smile, but he's dead right.  Those girls are are always will be my kids.  Go Falcons! (and Eagles!)