Competitive Spirit

I sat on the bleachers with my father-in-law, Herb, and my youngest son Carson. All of us were watching Kyle, my oldest, play baseball for his third year in a row. Kyle struck out almost every time at bat and couldn’t focus long enough to catch any of the other team’s hits. From what I understand, my husband was a natural athlete but I just wasn’t sure if he had developed his talents at the tender age of 7. I leaned over to my father-in-law and asked him quietly if Kyle was performing at the same level as my husband, Scott, when he was 7. Now let me tell you, I have never heard Herb say a bad thing about anyone and he is one of the kindest people I know. He winced at my question and searched for delicate words, “Wellllllll, ahhh I don’t think so…not yet. But, he’s young.” He was trying to be sweet about it. I laughed but it was a wakeup call for me. The fact that my husband and most of his family are athletic led me to believe my boys would be too. They are boys, for crying out loud! Don’t they just come out knowing how to catch a ball? I guess I forgot they may inherit some of my traits too. I can’t walk down the stairs without tripping, I run like a girl, and when I try to throw a ball really hard, it hits the ground right in front of me. BUT, I love to learn about science, philosophy, and history. I love to read and I love to write.
Will it be okay it my son is not an athlete? What if he is not aggressive enough for sports? Will I be disappointed? Absolutely not! I like to joke that my oldest boy is my future spellbowl champ! There is still hope though for that competitive and aggressive spirit though… All four of us were at a birthday party and my boys had gone outside to play football with a group of other boys and my husband’s buddy. An hour later, all the kids stormed in to watch tv and play indoors. The buddy proceeded to tell us how our oldest got into a fist fight with another boy. We were shocked! Kyle hadn’t said a word to us….AND he had a gotten a bloody lip! We were told the other boy kept tackling Kyle even though the ball wasn’t even in play. Kyle finally got fed up and got down into a wrestling position. He then took the other boy down and arms were a swingin’! It was his first fist fight! I was initially appalled that my kid would get physical with another kid but the shock oddly faded into pride. While we do NOT condone physically working through a disagreement with another, I have to say I was proud he stood up for himself!
Do you have a proud moment you want to share? Add it below! :)