Everybody Wins

There's nothing cuter than watching a bunch of 2 year olds "compete" in a field day. Nobody has a clue what's going on; just total chaos and running around in different directions and drinking each other's juice boxes.

Actually, they really look like they've got it together in this photo.  Good cover-up ;)

But there's still something fun and necessary about it. I mean, a 2 year old just hasn't lived until he stands on the edge of a hula hoop and throws a bean bag into it....

Or tried to race with an egg on a spoon. And by race, I mean all of the kids run away from each other holding the egg in one hand and the spoon in another. Although, Niall did get a kick out of it once he got the idea of what you're really supposed to do...

And while they don't have the attention span to tune in long enough to compute all of the rules and instructions, there is still a valuable lesson to be taught here:

No matter what happens, everybody is a winner!

No wait, that's not it. We're preparing them for the cruel, competitive world that lies ahead. Listen up kids, this is the one time in your lives that you're all going to get a medal. That was just the practice run. From now on, you gotta earn that baby. Medals don't grow on trees, you know.

But for now, I'm really glad that they do, because I've never seen such a proud and adorable bunch.

The reality of competitive sports can be taught some other time, when I'm ready to deal with the fact that my kids will have to face failure at many different points in their lives and I will have to be strong for them.

I will probably have to fight back some of my own tears the first time Niall comes to me empty-handed and heartbroken about that medal or trophy that went to someone else. But today, he is 2, that is truer than true (Dr. Seuss, anyone?)... and I'm so happy that everything is simple.

Today, we limbo and shoot rockets and smile because everybody wins :)