The Defensive Lion

My youngest is a sensitive soul prone to fantasy and comedic by nature. However, life can be full of carnivores, and as parents we are well aware of this. So what do we do? Tell our kids to be honest? Tell our kids to be moral?Tell our kids to be good citizens owning up when they have over- stepped the mark? Of course. That's the only way surely that makes society work. Isn't it? Yet, some out there make excuses: they protect their own, come what may and some out there are just mad, bad or odd.
So I have introduced my youngest to rugby! Why? Team spirit, fighting for a goal, being part of a community and learning to think on your feet and make tough decisions. Just harden up and face and embrace. Yes some may think that is harsh but the old adage is : cruel to be kind!
So we joined the club. A different one from his older brothers so he could have a voice apart from his older siblings.
He loved the kit. Twirling in front of the mirror growling into the glass, he aped alpha male. Yet, as a mother, I knew from this things were not going to plan.
His godfather, a Kiwi but resident in the UK for 12 years, took us to the club. His club.
At the ground, my youngest chatted rolling around on the tuff, happy to be out in the open air. He befriended all. Still I knew that things were not going to plan.
When asked to catch and throw, he was in his element tossing the ball gently and running away if thrown back with strength. I knew things were not going to plan. His godfather grinned.

Playing bulldog with tags showed his true colours. He ran about giving back the tags to all the poor souls who had been caught, attaching them with care and a smile. I knew things were not going to plan! His godfather sighed and rolled his eyes.
Asked to run, he swirled and skipped forwards. I knew things were not going to plan! His godfather ran his hands over his face in despair.
However, the true moment of dawning-the epiphany for me (when I realised that my boy was not built for this sport), was when the coach asked them to stand on the defensive line. My son, my gentle, fey,happy-go-lucky child decided to stand in the middle of the pitch and growl hands raised as claws - a defensive lion. Full marks for creativity but zero for the wonderful world of rugby. He had misheard or misinterrupted defensive line for defensive lion! At that moment things were not going to plan at all. At that moment his godfather walked away with a barely hidden sob and at that moment I realised, you can't toughen up a gentle soul; you can only teach teach them life skills to cope with the aggression in the big wide world. And more importantly, you have to embrace each child for their own worth. So my son may be the first English boy to rewrite the Hukka: Skip, meow, skip! But hopefully his gentle soul will not be forced into a defensive line nor a defensive lion's mouth.