Man of the Match

That's my boy!  The Saturday before last, Ben played amazingly during the Match against Kidlington.  He not only scored, but beautifully set up his team mate to also go on to score.  So at the most recent Match, he was retrospectively crowned Man of the Match.  Proud does not even begin to describe it!  Nick was totally buzzing, and was taken practically stratospheric by the fact that Ben also scored during this match.  What makes it all extra special is that Ben can be quite a space cake.  There is a cartoon called 'Billy' that my kids love.  It is a bout a boy that loves to daydream and has the most amazing adventures.  This is kinda like Ben.  Most of the time he has to be cajoled into focusing on the here and now - his mind is always working way ahead of the reality of here and now.  It makes for great creativity - at his parent's evening* the other week, the teacher praised his above average ability to tell wonderfully imaginative stories with a beautiful use of vocabulary.  It does mean though, that at times he needs slowing down so that he can catch up with himself.  Football, on occasion, has been one of those places where Ben is easily distracted....a leaf might be blowing past and Ben has to follow it to explore.....he has also volunteered to go off and sub, so he can play his own make-believe games at the side of the pitch (Nick was soooo not pleased that day)....you get the idea.  But Nick has managed to not only focus him, but also incentivise him.  Before a match he is given only 3 rules (you gotta keep it simple): 1. Listen to the ref, 2. do your best and 3. have fun.  That's it.  And if Ben actually scores a goal, he gets to choose any kids magazine he likes from the shop afterwards (Ben loves these and they are a special treat for him).  So far, it has been working a treat and he has gained in confidence and motivation and above all, he ENJOY's it.

* We were also told that Ben has a great ability to perform mental arithmetic (he has said many times that Maths is his favourite subject), contributes well to ideas on the carpet, can read exceptionally well and is great at comprehension.  He most definitely prefers to complete tasks alone (he likes things to be done his way!) and has become very mature and much better at handling his emotions - his current teacher also taught him in Foundation Year so she has seen his progression through the time he's been at the school.  He used to find it difficult and upsetting when things didn't go according to his plans (which she assured me was quite normal for boys of that age - especially considering he's one of the very youngest in his year) But now, although he still likes things to be done according to a plan and works best when given a set of tasks to complete methodically, he is now able to deal with other children not working that way too much more maturely.

Have I already said how proud we are?  I did?  Oh well.