My Mission Statement

I write to serve, to unite, to educate. I write to share literature and flesh out ideas that may be of interest to others. I write to document an emotion, experience, or a blip in time. My mission is to write in such a way that the reader is reminded that we can find humor in all situations. It's one of the great blessings of life.


Thursday, September 9, 2010

Lessons Learned

What a busy week I have had, but it has been full of fun new experiences. My oldest daughter had her first tennis match as a high schooler last Tuesday, and my younger daughter had her first cross country meet yesterday.

The tennis match was fun to watch. All these cute girls in cute uniforms--they were all focused and concentrating. They seemed to have the right balance of fun and competition. It was a beautiful afternoon and I really enjoyed watching the singles then the doubles teams. It's a great sport to watch, and I was especially proud of my daughter. However, I can't honestly say that I always knew what was going on. Don't laugh, but I kept asking the guy beside me what the score was and how many games were they playing. For example, I thought they played eight games, and the one who won the most won the set. So it was confusing when they went to ten, eleven games, twelve games. But turns out, one of the players has to WIN eight games, no matter how many it takes to play. Just when I thought he must think I'm a total idiot, he told me that he plays competitively and just this past week-end had played in a tournament. (which only confirmed that he thought I was an idiot, and truthfully, I kind of was) THANKFULLY, he kept me abreast of what was what, so NOW I feel like I am an experienced tennis mom. Next week, I will really know what I'm looking at even if I don't sit with my new fellow tennis parent.

Yesterday the cross country meet was at Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. (yes, that's what it's really called) It used to be a landfill, and apparently all the trash piled up to make a huge hill. Then somehow they landscaped it to make a beautiful park. I know, it's crazy, and it doesn't even smell. There's a large man-made lake, and a beautiful view of the Virginia Beach skyline. Anyway, I get there and due to parking lot confusion, I miss the beginning of the boys' race. I couldn't tell where they even began running or where they might end up. I asked someone, "Where did it start?" He looked at me like I had just fallen off of a turnip truck, and pointed down to a row of cones, etc. (okay, well, I should have figured that out) But I still couldn't see where it ended. So I watched the other parents to see where to go and stand, and finally I got a general idea of what would happen. I figured enough out that by the time the girls began, I kind of knew what was going on. Did you know they even shoot a little gun to start the races? I don't remember that from high school. Anyway, I was so proud of my daughter. She ran great on a really hard course. The end of it was straight up this trash mountain (except now it's grassy and quite lovely). After the finished, she was huffing and puffing and walking it off. She felt a little dizzy. She looked at me and said, "Mom, that wasn't that fun." I just about died laughing. Like she had been conned into thinking it would be more fun than regular practice or something. I don't know, but it just cracked me up. As a little time passed, I think she changed her perspective on that, but her initial reaction just made me laugh. Because I would never expect it to be FUN to run 3 1/2 miles, but that's what's so cool about a kid who runs cross country. She DID expect it to be fun!

So the good news is NOW I know how to go to a cross country meet AND to a high school tennis match. Whew. This parenting stuff keeps you on your toes.

What did YOU learn from your kids this week? I'll bet there was SOMETHING. Have a great one.

1 comment:

alison said...

SO proud of the girls!!! Neither is an easy sport.

I learned that kindergarten is tough stuff. No more playing and getting together with friends in the afternoon. You know what the best part is, though?!? Showing up and eating lunch together can turn it all around!

I also learned that preschool "homework" is a lot of work! We were writing "a" a lot, but were still upset when it was time to finish up. I think Lillian thought she had to fill the entire journal up in one day!

I know next week is going to be even busier for you w/ all of the birthdays!

Take care!


Isabel by Donna Jones Koppelman

Isabel by Donna Jones Koppelman

Major Bear at the Grove Park Inn by Donna Jones Koppelman

Major Bear at the Grove Park Inn by Donna Jones Koppelman