What is wrong with my five year old?
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Anonymous
| My son just turned five. He just played a soccer game where all of the other kids were fully engaged, focused on the ball and scoring a goal. My son briefly runs with the other boys who are focused on the ball with no actual intention of kicking it or trying to get it, and then will run off the field to me in the side lines saying he needs a rest or that he needs water, in the middle of the game. His head just isn’t in it at all, it’s like he doesn’t even know what’s going on. The coach came up to him and said “you have one job today, just watch the ball” and he couldn’t/didn’t do it. I am so embarrassed because he sticks out like a sore thumb. Do you think I should be concerned by this? |
Anonymous
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There is nothing wrong with him.
Just love him and appreciate what he loves, and follow that. He sounds like a gentle, sweet boy. You can be very proud of that! |
Anonymous
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Don’t think of the feeling as “embarrassed,” but rather as an alert from body telling you that he needs something different.
He is not an embarrassment. He just needs something different. Plenty of people don’t understand ball sports. What does he enjoy doing? |
Anonymous
| That was both of my boys. Soccer was not for them. We stuck it out for a long time (too long), but it never clicked, and they never cared about the ball at all. Individual sports without a ball turned out much better for them. |
Anonymous
There’s nothing in the OP that indicates this. Op, the answer to your question is he’s 5. He’ll either decide he likes soccer over time and start paying attention and actually playing, or he won’t. Now is the time to let him explore a variety of interests. |
Anonymous
Sure there is! He isn’t pounding the other kids. He isn’t kicking anyone. He isn’t screaming or flailing. He’s just there! Sweet and gentle. |
Anonymous
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My kid's rec soccer team had 3 kids like that. Mine was one. I'd ask him "why do you want to play soccer? Do you want to quit?" and he'd say "I need to go to soccer, people bring their babies! I like to see the babies."
All of those 3 kids enjoyed their years in soccer, and then found other sports that suited them more. Mine runs cross country. Another wrestles. A third plays basketball. Rec is the perfect place for this kid. |
Anonymous
No. Focus on what OP wrote and asked instead of inventing a narrative that doesn’t exist. |
Anonymous
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Wow. He’s only 5! I coached a team of 5th graders who did the same thing (running off field in middle of a game, paying no attention) 5th grade I thought was too old to be doing stuff like that but 5? I thought almost every kid was like that at age 5.
Also, soccer or any sport is not for everyone. Not every kid cares about sports and that’s totally fine. Find something else he likes instead. Enjoy the child you have and try not to compare him to other kids so much. He’s his own person. |
Anonymous
| This is my kid. He’s not a team sports kid, but he’s a great kid! |
Anonymous
| Nothing, he hates soccer and only doing it as you want him to. |
Anonymous
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My kid played soccer at that age and there were definitely a couple kids who were just not into it and would get easily distracted/bored. My son didn’t really fully start to engage until he was around six. Don’t sweat it! This seems totally normal for his age, and he may or may not get more into it as he gets older.
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Anonymous
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Most kids in soccer don't like it as much as their parents and coaches want them to like it, and quite a few really hate it. You can see on the field that lots are very good at faking it to please adults.
Soccer (and piano, tbh) is a "check the box" activity that every MC and UMC sticks their kids in because they think that's what MC and UMC kids have to do. Let your kid try different team sports and different individual athletic activities, and don't listen to people who say that if you're not on a team you're just exercising. Exercise is good enough. |
Anonymous
This is my DS. Doesn't care about the ball or winning and losing. |
Anonymous
Are you OP? Why can’t a 5-yo boy be described as “sweet and gentle”? Weird. |