Let me be clear, although my daughter does play soccer, I DO NOT consider myself a soccer mom.  Meaning, I don’t have a minivan and cart kids all over the place!  Actually I try to be in the car very little, prefering to bike and walk as much as possible.  Nonetheless, I found myself as a field trip driver for Carli and five of her classmates yesterday.  They were going to visit their yearlong pen pals at a school about 30 minutes away. 

Once everyone was situated and the arguing over the front passenger seat was done, we proceeded to move along.  I had the radio on a pop station deemed appropriate by my 10 year old daughter.  All the kids (and I mean ALL), in unison, sang the lyrics and waved their arms crazily.  I was really surprised that the four boys knew all the words and were willing to sing aloud.  I really thought singing was a “girl” thing.  There was a lot of energy and happiness in the car!

On our return trip home, Carli asked if everyone could have a piece of gum.  I gave it to them and they proceeded to sing the entire ride home.  When the school bell rang and Carli returned to the car to go home, she informed me that the kids in our car were proclaiming to everyone that “They had the best driver in the class because I gave them a treat and no other mother had thought to do this.”  Carli beamed with pride that her mom was “cool”.  Although my “coolness” was not intentional on my part, I said to myself, “Who knew it was so easy to please a bunch of 10 year olds?!”  If only my coolness would last more than 10 minutes!  Oh well, motherhood is tough.