Menu Plan Monday - the Mad Scramble Edition

This weekend was State Cup soccer tournaments for both boys (two cities, two hotel stays, two very long weekends), and I left the house at 6:50 on Saturday morning, and got home just before 8:00 pm yesterday. To say that no planning went into this week would be an understatement. Michael had a similar schedule, as we each took a boy to a tournament in different, far flung towns. 

The tournaments were very fun (particularly for the kids ;-)), but I feel like I need a real weekend to catch up!

We normally do all of our meal prep on the weekends, & I go into the week with a very full fridge. Other than leftover pizza, it's slim pickings at our house, so I'll need to get creative. :-) 

Here's what I'm thinking of serving this week:

• Monday - Spaghetti & meatballs, with garlic bread. It's a cool, rainy day here.
• Tuesday - Leftover pizza 
• Wednesday - Chicken quesadillas, with guacamole
• Thursday - Baked tilapia & pasta for the adults, baked chicken & pasta for the kids
• Friday - Clean up any remaining leftovers, or maybe sandwich night? ;-) 
• Saturday - I'm thinking of butternut squash soup & goat cheese crostini
• Sunday - on my way to Brazil. I'll leave something for M to make for the kids.

That will have to work. 

And, for fun, a few highlights & lowlights from the weekend. (Highlights & lowlights are a recurring dinner time conversation at our house - everyone participates. :-))

Highlights:

• Saturday was gorgeous, and both boys had two wins for the day & kicked off their tournaments feeling like heroes. :-) 
• I got a chance to spend time with a friend on all of the long car rides (we carpooled)
• I spent time with my little guy, and he's hilarious. 
• M got a chance to bond with Sam, as well
• Both boys had opportunities to learn about good sportsmanship, and to think about mental toughness, as it applies to life & sports. Can't always be on the winning team. ;-)
• I'm secretly grateful that neither team qualified for finals next weekend. Another hotel stay, another full weekend.

Lowlights:

• Most of the parents on the teams are amazing, great sports, & all around fun to be around. One father is an absolute bully. To his kids, and particularly his wife. He makes me cringe to be around him. The way he treats her borders on verbally abusive. It's so difficult to hear.
• One of the teams we were playing on Saturday walked off the field, as the ref was trying to keep the game safe. She kept asking the coach to control the level of fouling. He told her to "F off", and forfeited the game during the second half. We were winning 4-0, but to have to explain the egregious bad sportsmanship on all sides (the parents were absolutely awful, the kids, the coaches) . . .it was no fun. The kids are eight years old. This is not professional soccer. The goal is to have a fun, safe, and fair match. Not everyone approached it from that angle.
• It was a monsoon on Sunday. Freezing & extremely wet. The poor kids were shivering while they were playing, particularly Nick, who was in at goalie. 

It was actually really fun & interesting to see how each kid approached the losses on Sunday. Nick took all of the blame (he's the goalie), and was so frustrated with himself. Sam took no responsibility, even though he missed a PK. Those are the kinds of moments where you really get a chance to see who they are, and you get to help parent & coach them to work through adversity & challenges. I feel like team sports are a fantastic introduction to some of the challenges they will face later in life.

Happy Monday, all! And, what's the worst sportsmanship you've ever seen in youth sports?