Kicked Out of the Game

About a quarter of the way through volleyball season, Anna got kicked out of one of her volleyball games.  It wasn’t for any unruly behavior on the court, which is completely funny to even write since that would be so completely uncharacteristic of Anna! No, it was due to her wearing earrings out on the court.  About 2 weeks before that game Anna asked her coach if she could get a second ear piercing during volleyball season.  She wanted to be able to wear Christmas earrings come December but knew she would have to keep in her initial studs for a few weeks.  She was trying to plan everything out perfectly.  Her coach told her she could still play as long as she covered them with medical tape before the games.  Well, the next Friday evening we took her to get her second ear piercing.  Abby came along and picked out some cute clip-ons for herself since the rule in our house is no pierced ears until you are nine years old and are able to care for them yourself.  It was a fun evening for the girls. The game was on Tuesday, and, turns out, the referee for the game did not care at all that Anna had medical tape over her earrings.  He said she was not allowed on the court until those earrings were removed.  He had been reffing games for 30 years and insisted he knew the rule book better than anyone.  Anna was devastated.  Then Anna and her coach approached me.  Her coach told Anna that she could sub Anna in and out, having Anna take the earrings out while in the game and hurriedly put them back in while sitting the bench.  Yeah, I knew that wasn’t going to work.  I told Anna this.  I don’t think Anna remembered how difficult it is to remove and put in an earring the first several months after a piercing.  Also, I reminded her how quickly the hole closes up if you take it out before the designated time.  She was near tears at the thought of not playing.  Anna decided to go along with her coach’s plan, stating she would be responsible to pay for another piercing if the hole closed up.  Well, she got one earring removed but was never successful at getting the second earring out.  She decided she wasn’t going to get much playing time in, at that point, so she resigned herself to putting the other earring back in.  There was one slight problem, though.  It wouldn’t go in.  The hole had already begun to close.  I saw Anna struggling with it across the court.  I walked her to the bathroom; found her some ice; and, fast forward past all the exhausting emotions, Abigail and I heard a “Pop!”  Anna had just pierced her own ear right there in the school bathroom.  Ugh.  The game was lost.  We went out and treated ourselves to some ice cream.  From that game on, Anna wore nude-colored tape and a headband over her ears.  Not one referee questioned her unusual style of headband wear.  We ended the season with a girls’ trip to Kansas (just Anna, Abby, and myself) for a big tournament.  The girls ate pizza and brownies at the hotel, swam in the pool, got their nails painted with paw prints (Go Team Panthers!), and Abby played volleyball with a friend and enjoyed a massage in the massage chair at the gym during breaks!  Fun memories were made together!  I enjoyed watching you play, Anna, and I loved watching you handle every situation with class and with an incredibly sweet spirit.  You were the top seller for your team fundraiser and earned yourself a Panthers sweatshirt and two Chick-fil-A gift cards.  You were also the top seller when you were in Girl Scouts and had one lady ask you to come back to her house every year because you were so organized, prompt, and friendly.  You definitely excel at sales and thoroughly enjoy it!  One of the moms on the team told me that her daughter told her that out of all the girls on the team Anna was definitely the nicest.  Keep on shining bright, Anna!  We love you so much!