New Game in Town

For those of you who have met the Magster, you know she has an endless amount of energy. Last Spring, with the Dad not doing so hot, I took her out of sports for 4 months and it was a huge mistake. You see, a tired Magster is a sweet Magster...a wired Magster is something else all together. She's never bad, just sort of out of control.

This spring I knew we had to find something for her. So, I decided she'd run track. Why? Well, she's a pretty fast runner whenever she plays sports, she never gets tired and I was curious....Is she just quick or is she fast? There's a difference. No better way to find out then just have her run some races.

Last week, I met the track coach during a parent meeting. He's an older guy, retired, been coaching kids for 18 years. Has taken kids to the national level, but by his own admission, it's been years since that's happened, but he'd like to see it again. He's seen all types of kids and can spot a kid avoiding running at practice. He has strict rules about warm up and cool down and is very focused on energy prevention.

I almost cried tears of joy when he said, "I will make your kids tired. I will make your kids sore. They may cry, but if they hang with it, they will be well-conditioned athletes." I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've seen the Magster physically exhausted and I've never heard her complain of sore muscles...so this coach was a dream come true to me. I was giddy.

She started practice last night. Practices are 1 hour long and they "run". They start with an 800, then they run 50's, then they take a water break, then they run more 50s, then they run a 400, then they go home. Sweaty, tired, sore. At least last night the Magster fit that description. I didn't think she'd make it to the car. She complained her legs hurt as soon as we got home. Once she sat down last night, she didn't get up for a long time. And she was quiet. Even La Nina asked what was wrong with her. This morning you would have thought she was an old lady the way she groaned as she got out of bed. (Insert an evil laugh here...courtesy of her mother.)

She went back tonight. But tonight we only got about an hour of peace. She stayed up to her usual bedtime. She complained about some sore quads, but really that was it...darn it. She said it was much easier today and even kind of fun. I'm thinking by her next practice she'll be all adjusted, and that old coach better up the work outs...'cuz he just might have met his match.

On a performance note, I'm quite proud of her. The team is for 2nd to 8th graders and she's hanging with the older kids on the longer runs. During the last 400, I saw her running with a couple of La Nina's friends as they finished. When I asked her if she was ran with them the whole time, she said, "No, Mom, I was passing them before we finished." I think she's going to really like track once they start racing.

The Planner

You know, I'm a planner. I like to have a plan. I like to make lists. I like to be in the know. That's just how I roll. However, I've met my match in the Magster. You see, the Magster has put me on a "need to know" basis. She makes plans and tells me her "Plan" once it's all set. Frankly, she's out planning the planner.

Take this weekend. Saturday is a bit chaotic. The Dad has big meetings all day Saturday and La Nina has dance all day long in Hayward. As the Magster sees it, her choice was between being bored with her father or bored with her sister and mother. She was also quite worried about missing an afternoon Futsal game, so her wheels started spinning. She's comes in from school yesterday.

"Mom, you need to call 'C's mom about Saturday."

"Huh?" I asked.

"You could email or text her too. But C said I could go over there on Saturday morning, 'cuz they're not doing anything. Then Dad can pick me up and take me to Futsal when he's done." She then popped a cookie in her mouth and left the room, while I stared into space wondering exactly how I should approach other this mother. Had my little darling invited herself to someone else's house?

Minutes later I got the following email from C's mom. "Hey, I heard Maggie's looking for someplace to hang on Saturday morning. We're around. Just let me know what time you're dropping her off. By the way, did she tell you about their science project?"

No, I hadn't heard about the science project, but after several emails and I got the story from her friends Mom. Apparently, little Miss Always Something Cooking had planned her entire science fair entry, down to who's buying the board, what the experiment is and who's doing what work on the project. The Magster is 8. On the one hand, I love that she's so self sufficient. On the other hand, she's a little scary. I never know what she's got going.

So, while her family is busy on Saturday, the Magster will be playing with her friend. According to her plan, her dad will show up at 1pm to pick her up, get her changed and get her to Futsal by 3pm. She'll then go with him to the evening meeting, where she will be in the company of lots of people she loves. That is unless, she's makes another plan for the evening. No one has called yet, so we may be in the clear.