As a mother everything was new and despite expectations of how great I would be as a mom I found that I did not have a clue. I felt like I was failing at everything. It was not until I laced up my cleats that I fully felt like me again. Many of us were new moms. We were all exhausted, stressed and our bodies could not do what they used to be able to do. But I have played with the same women for years and together we helped each other. We helped each other get back into shape (or whatever would become our new normal for fitness), we listened to each other brag about how cute our kids were and sympathized when kids were driving us crazy. We had husbands who set aside everything else for that one night of soccer every week so we could get out to play. We joked that we should just leave the house with our kits and get a hotel room to sleep instead. We nursed babies on the sidelines. We rocked strollers on the sidelines. We let the kids run wild on the sidelines. My body may have changed; I am slower for sure. But I am no less fierce. Some nights (most nights) it took more energy to get me out the door to the game than it took me to actually play the game. But those Thursday nights on the soccer field made me feel like me again and reminded my kids and myself of just how fierce their mom was and will always be.