Basketball boo-boo's

Well, my favorite sports season started up last week. Basketball. My oldest had her first basketball games last Saturday and each year, at the beginning of the season, I'm always amazed at out how much the girls have grown. It seems they should all be 10 year old 4th graders, not these taller and maturing 8th graders. They're all wearing adult size uniforms and adult size shoes, some even wearing men's shoes. They look so much older and play so much older each year that for a few minutes, one might forget that they're still young kids.

However, it only takes one injury and one glance up to their mom in the bleachers, before they're crying in a heap on the floor. Although they don't voice it, you know they're secretly begging for their mommy's hug and compassion. But, an ice pack and a pat on the back from their coach has to suffice. So as old as they think they are, their tears prove they still little kids inside. They may argue with me on that, but you won't see college players crying unless their foot's twisted behind their leg with the ankle bone sticking out, so there ya go.

What reminded me last weekend of their true age, was, what I like to call, the Boo Boo Sharing Session. These happen every year after every basketball game with young girls. I know this to be factual, as I'm lucky enough to get to listen to it and view the boo boo's after every game. Sometimes I get to keep hearing the story for days and weeks afterwards. This is a unique session since basketball is a major contact sport, and it's also unique to girls. From my experience, and a mom of young sons could correct me, but I don't witness boys having these sessions following their games, or even during halftime for that matter.

Here's how it works: after a game ends, or sometimes during halftime, these older looking and more mature players who are still little kids, began their Boo Boo Sharing Session. This is where they each take turns describing how violent the other team's girls were and how they injured each one of our girls. For instance, one girl chimes in about how some girl on the other team scratched them while stealing the ball and then shows the red scratch wound to all her teammates and claims, "Can you believe this? Look at that!" After which, every other teammate examines the scratch and responds with, "Ooo, ouch! How rude!" Then the next girl gets her turn and asks if her teammates if they saw what #32 on the other team did to her and then demonstrates how the #32 grabbed her around the neck, like a horse collar move, and threw her on the court during a rebound. After which she shows off the bruise forming on the side of her knee due to the take down. And so on, and so on until all the girls on have had a chance to share all their bumps and bruises.

As I watched them in their Sharing Session last Saturday while sitting in the bleachers, it reminded me that although they look so much older and feel like they're adults, they're still young kids at heart and what kid doesn't want to show off an owie or too, or tattle to their parents about how #32 was mean to them on the court. It made me smile to see them sharing their battle wounds with each other like kindergartners on the playground comparing ouchies. I guess when I stop seeing the Boo Boo sessions at their games, I'll know they're finally grown up and I'm gonna miss these little girls.