Just like me

Yesterday we had soccer practice and in that hour it was like I was watching myself out there.....and i could feel the insecurity that Mackenzie was experiencing. It is very hard to know exactly what she is going through and not be able to fix it for her, but I'm sure this is one of many times I'll feel that exact same feeling.
As anyone who knows Mackenzie knows that she has soft feelings and is shy. She LOVES playing soccer with daddy and so I think we were expecting her to just go out there and go for it, but not so much. She is very reserved about playing and would probably be happy to just sit on the sidelines and watch every practice and game. This is where the similarity in us begins. Sports and games are all fun when they are just fun, as soon as there is competition involved and more importantly the risk that we may not do everything perfectly, we'd rather just sit and watch. I'll go out and shoot hoops all day long, but ask me to play 1 on 1, not a chance. So Mackenzie kept making excuses of why she "couldn't" play...she was hungry, cold, etc. At first Aaron got upset with her and pulled the old - ok we'll just go home then. Then he said, I just don't know what to do... and that is when I saw myself out on the field. I told him, just keep telling her how great she is doing. I figure more than any skill she needs right now, more importantly she needs the reassurance that she is doing great. So even when she kicked the ball to the wrong goal, we praised her for finally going in for the kick. Hopefully this will work for her. I would hate for her to limit herself to what she will try out of fear of not reaching perfection. Even with me knowing that this is what holds me back, I can't change it.
I think that this is a trait that I will always admire in Turner. He is one that will get bored with what he is good at and always be trying to perfect what he "can't" do. He is fearless.