Saturday, December 15, 2012

{winning}

When one has a child who is born competitive, one has to do a lot of explaining the topic in the
title of this post.
Only one of my children seems to have been bitten by the {winning} bug, and he is the male child.
Since he was able to "play" he has wanted to {win}.
The interesting thing about {winning} and development, is that children do not have ration, or
logic--it develops along the way.
18 month olds make up "games" that would really be impossible for anyone to {win}. (etc.)
Y'all are not reading this for a lesson in childhood development, I know, but there is a bit
of background that one has to know, in order to enjoy this story, and these are the words
and thoughts that have been writing themselves to me. :)
So, Victor is five now, and he has had many heartaches and some real {winning} moments.  I would say the average mix for any average child...you win some you lose some.
He also has a very {logical} personality with a VERY BIG dose of temper mixed in--I know EXACTLY where that came from.  I can see me in his fits..I know exactly how his frustration/desperation feels!!
So one day --maybe a month ago --I broke it down for Victor--after a bad luck BINGO night at
school at which some lucky child won an I-Pod, and another won a Nintendo DS...
I just started explaining...the types of winning.
There are three types of winning I said:
1.  The total luck kind--no need getting too upset--it was just luck! pure Luck!  No one did anything skillful at BINGO that night, nope--they just got lucky... And if you act sulky when someone else wins you are not being a good sport and you might detract from their good feelings...no need for that--just hold in your disappointment...
2.  The subjective kind of winning--say an art contest or an essay contest.  This kind of winning is based upon ones opinion of some thing you have done...
Around here you can't put much stock in that one either--our subjectivity around here is based on if your Mama will get mad and act like a fool when you do not "win"-or if your grandad ate lunch with George Washington and you have blue blood in your veins...those are the {best} essay writers and artists in our town--you better believe it!  (they sure do). ;)....I do not tell my children the second part, as I do not want them to be cynical too early--they have 13 years to figure that one out.
3.  The only kind I think has any real value is the indisputable kind...the kind where one wins a race, or
one makes the best grades...there is no arguing there.  I told V-man--this is the only one you need to worry about or really try at--and don't cry about it...just be the best! (when you can) Then I explained--the blue ribbons from swimming...?? that is the kind to take pride in, that is the kind that was based on pure time, and stroke correctness..nothing more and nothing less. 
So, I think he got it...
I do all of this when we are riding in the car and they are trapped!

So the VERY NEXT WEEK when we were at the beach for Thanksgiving--we were all at the pier playing arcade games when Victor had a GIANT STROKE OF LUCK!  He was playing some wheel spinning game for a quarter--and he hit the jackpot!! One THOUSAND TICKETS!!  I am not even kidding.
He stooped his little self down and just looked in wonder as ticket after ticket came out of the game machine.
I stooped down too, and soaked it all in..that beaming smiling face (eyes, cheeks, and mouth) all just grinning, as he reveled in the joy that comes with having a lucky streak--and {winning}.

1 comment:

Bethany said...

I like your {winning} breakdown! I also like captive car audiences... Man, that bingo had some excellent prizes, I would have been disappointed too. Plain old good luck is plain old thrilling though. Good for V man and the tickets!!

Spot on!

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