The importance of a parent's support
Today was my 6 year old's sports say at school from grades 1 to 3. The school sent emails over a week ago encouraging parents to come support our kids on sports day. I had marked it down to make sure I didn't miss it. I dropped my son as normal then sat in the car and played with my phone until it was time to go to the sports field to watch the kids play.
It was a well organised sports day with stations well laid out by the time we got there and they had pre-picked teams the week before. The kids were tagged with stickers like name badges to remind them and to show the supervisors which teams they belonged to. Once the teams were sent to which station they started at off went the sports day. So we parents basically stood on the side lives and cheered on the kids. Well this fob mother wasn't quiet, I was shouting like I was at the Olympics. And not just for my son...for all the kids whose names I knew. Anyway in my son's team there was this one boy who was distracted since the beginning and the kids had to half shout at him to get going. Even when the supervisors were telling him to run or it was his turn he half-heartedly did it. So I learned his name and tried to encourage him along. I looked around for his parents but alas they weren't present. Then I realised the kids who were doing very well were the ones with parents there and those whom we were actively cheering on. With this little boy it was a tough one because no one seemed to know him and no one was shouting for him.
Another dad, who was a yeller like me and I learned his name and started cheering this little kid on and praising him every time he had a turn, by the second half of the games, the little champ was right into the spirit of the games. And by the end of the sports day he was beaming at us at every compliment we gave him.
I learned a valuable lesson today, that we should always make the effort to support our kids however mundane their activities may be. It's easy sometimes to wave something away as just a 6 year olds boring activity but really our children live to impress us their parents. I saw in how my son and his friends thrived with our support and encouragement and just being there made them enjoy the games more. And I'm glad that we managed to make the lone child enjoy himself and be part of his team.
It was a well organised sports day with stations well laid out by the time we got there and they had pre-picked teams the week before. The kids were tagged with stickers like name badges to remind them and to show the supervisors which teams they belonged to. Once the teams were sent to which station they started at off went the sports day. So we parents basically stood on the side lives and cheered on the kids. Well this fob mother wasn't quiet, I was shouting like I was at the Olympics. And not just for my son...for all the kids whose names I knew. Anyway in my son's team there was this one boy who was distracted since the beginning and the kids had to half shout at him to get going. Even when the supervisors were telling him to run or it was his turn he half-heartedly did it. So I learned his name and tried to encourage him along. I looked around for his parents but alas they weren't present. Then I realised the kids who were doing very well were the ones with parents there and those whom we were actively cheering on. With this little boy it was a tough one because no one seemed to know him and no one was shouting for him.
Another dad, who was a yeller like me and I learned his name and started cheering this little kid on and praising him every time he had a turn, by the second half of the games, the little champ was right into the spirit of the games. And by the end of the sports day he was beaming at us at every compliment we gave him.
I learned a valuable lesson today, that we should always make the effort to support our kids however mundane their activities may be. It's easy sometimes to wave something away as just a 6 year olds boring activity but really our children live to impress us their parents. I saw in how my son and his friends thrived with our support and encouragement and just being there made them enjoy the games more. And I'm glad that we managed to make the lone child enjoy himself and be part of his team.
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