Soccer, Mon

I was giggling to the point I was drawing attention. So, here's what happened. It was James' first day of soccer practice. He looked the part - new cleats, red Adidas socks, strong shin guards (I know they're strong because he kept asking me to kick him in the shins to make sure they worked). We drove up and joined the "where do we go - what do we do now" crowd. And at 11:30 the adults and children were called over to the orange line on the field.

Coach Cann introduced himself and was met with the stares of many confused five year-olds. You see, Coach Cann has a decidedly thick island accent of the "Hey, Mon" variety. After a few minutes, the kids seemed to warm up to the cadence of this Jamaican accent. And the mini cleats seemed to do their best when he said, "Repeat after me - Hi, Coach Cann."

Stop. Now, before you continue reading you have to practice saying some phrases outloud with a Jamaican accent. The story just isn't funny unless you hear it as you go. So here are a few..."Yuh did see dat?" or "Mi love chaklit cake with nuff icenin." or "No womon, no cry."

Okay, back to the story. When they all met Coach Junior(or Coooach Juuun"a" as the head coach pronounced it) and in unison they repeated in a distinct Jamaican accent, "Hi, Coooach "Juuun'a'!" I couldn't help but giggle. Twenty kids imitating perfectly what they heard.

Anyhow, the "repeat after me's" and the Jamaican accents that followed continued to give me the giggles. I brought home a decidedly better dribbler and my own little Rastafarian. Hey, Mon... it doesn't get any better than this.