Week Four: soccer field

Daniel was a good sport. His profile card, given me, claimed that he only liked video games. With his family background in mind, I knew I needed to open him up to a world of more possibilities. That meant doing fun things he might not have thought he liked. But Daniel surprised me, because he was game for most anything.

On this particular visit, Jared was unable to join us, but I had a group of friends who would be playing soccer and I brought Daniel along. Daniel, being an only child, was happy that he didn't have to share me with Jared for once, but I was glad that we would be hanging out with a group of people so he could see good social interactions. My friends didn't disappoint. We had a great game of soccer of all ages.

I don't think Daniel has run so much in his life. He was pitted against me, rather than being placed on my team, which I think he relished because he wanted to beat me. His team did actually win, but it was close. Turns out that my thirty year old self is much slower than my high school self and I got winded a lot easier, but my first few goals helped us get a good lead before we had to stave off a comeback. I maintain that we played too long. I think Daniel would have thought so too, if it weren't for the fact that he scored the final goal while loafing, cherry picking (we weren't calling off-sides). It was clear neither Daniel or I were in good shape, but we both share a good competitive spirit.

Having more one on one time, Daniel opened up about his parents and his feelings about everything. We ate tacos from Taco Bell, a favorite of his, before I brought him back home. I learned from the previous week that if I brought him home later than supper he might not get supper. We were starting to connect really well and respect and trust one another.