When I was younger (and really still now) I was a bit unco-ordinated when it came to sport or any sort of gross motor activity. I'm not sure whether it's lack of exposure or whether it's ingrained into me to suck at most physical activity. Either way, sports carnivals were not my favourite event at school, except for the fact that it was a day out of the classroom. I have been hoping that my Muddy Kids inherit Muddy Hubby's enthusiasm for sport more than mine, so I was interested to see how my Muddy Organiser would go at her first Athletics Carnival. We rugged ourselves up on a windy and cold afternoon and settled in for the fun.
As it's only a relatively small school, they ran it for just over an hour on Friday afternoon and the kids had a ball. They had a running race, a sack race, 3-legged race, jelly bean on a spoon race, dress in footy jersey and funny hat race and a tug-o-war. After watching the whole carnival, I think it's safe to say that my Muddy Organiser has inherited my gross motor skills (poor thing) but she had a blast and not once did she stop smiling, which I thought was the best bit. As long as we can keep encouraging her enthusiasm and making sure she doesn't stop trying I'll be a pretty happy Mum.
How do we make that happen though? Is it a matter of lots of positive reinforcement and encouragement, is it a matter of getting out there and practicing with her to make sure she's not afraid to give anything a go, or is it something inbuilt into them to keep giving everything their all with a smile on their face?
Do you have sporty kids, or are they like me and a little un-co? Do they keep trying and how do you keep them smiling and having fun?
I love that, for the most part, little kids aren't phased by fact.
ReplyDeleteMy son assures me that he can run just as fast and straight as Usain Bolt.
The bruises all over his legs tell a different story though!
The fun factor is so important when they're young.
Goooooo gorgeous Muddy kids!
:-) xx
I think the being unco is ingrained because mine sure wasn't lack of exposure or trying (even 10 yrs of ballet and working on co-ordination sure didn't help) and I am still just as bad as ever so I pity my kids when I have them. I think it is great that when kids are happy with who they are that it doesn't bother them, when they have been raised with the 'give it a go attitude' and know that people close to them are proud of them for that rather than the 'give up cause you are no good' one. It sounds like it was lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteOh good on her, isn't it all about the fun at this age anyway?! I really don't know how the boys will fare when stacked up against the other kids in sport. They both run very fast & climb & love ball games...but time will tell if they have any real talent. Lovely pics Nat. Brings back memories of athletics carnivals, I used to get so nervous lining up to race xoxo
ReplyDeleteI don't really know what my kids will be like, they are not built small so I don't think they are going to be ballerinas:)x
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