My not-yet-five-year-old has soccer once a week, loves it, digs right in.

Last week there was a new girl who was having an off day in addition to being new. She was intimidated by the girls who are getting good at handling and moving the ball, surviving in a cluster, so she took a break to hang close to mom and dad.

My daughter saw how unhappy she was, stopped playing, went over and introduced herself, gave her a hug, told her it was okay, and took her by the hand to lead her back onto the field.

The little girl hung in there and had a pretty good first day, came over later and gave my daughter a hug.

All the parents were gushing over the sweet little display, and I was just so proud of my girl.