He Persisted

Mr C loves to climb and play on the floor. I asked him last year if he wanted to try wrestling, because I thought he'd do well with it. This year I encouraged it a little more, and signed him up for junior wrestling. Our knowledge was very minimal, not knowing any of the rules or methods of scoring. At first he didn't know how to do the warm-up bear crawls, army crawls, and the other myriads of mat crossings they did. By the end of the two-month season, he followed the directions swimmingly. He still didn't care for the actual wrestling and competition, but he did learn some moves and improved over time. His favorite parts of the practices were playing Sharks and Minnows and the toe-touch game.

I didn't sign him up for the competitions in the beginning because we didn't know the rules, how to score, or basically anything. At the end of the season I noticed one more nearby tournament he could do before state. I signed Mr C up to compete. The next morning he told me he had a hard time sleeping because he was worried about the competition. I wanted to look up and review ways to score in wrestling and teach him, but he didn't want to even talk about it, and acted anxious. Zak and I talked, and we realized it was stressing him out quite a bit. Before Mr C came home from school that day, we decided that rather than forcing him to do something he was dreading, we would give him some options.

We let him know he could go and just watch the matches, since we had never actually watched a real bout. Another option would be to go and participate if he chose. Zak also told him he could just stay home, but I hoped he would at least come to watch the others.

I remembered listening to the Freakonomics podcast where they said it was helpful to quit things you didn't want to continue doing. Mom told me Ammon had wrestled briefly, and hated people watching him during the competitions. I also reflected on the counsel given at church this past Sunday on allowing our children to accomplish difficult things to prepare them for service as adults. Parenthood is confusing.

Mr C got home, and we went over the options. He said he just wanted to watch. Then he changed into his singlet. I decided to not make a big deal of it. We walked into the excited crowds of parents and participants at the tournament. We asked if he wanted to wrestle, and he decided to try. One of the timing officials helped us figure out on which mat he would be wrestling, and how to find when his other bouts would be.

The first bout was three minutes, and Mr C did some great twists, turns, escapes, and position changes. His coach came for part of it to help. Mr C kept going, and worked hard to the end. We were so excited and proud of him for his efforts, especially since he wasn't even sure he wanted to compete. The second and final rounds went very quickly, and Mr C did what he could. He still doesn't like the competition aspect, but he was grateful for the experience and medal. 

Throughout the season, he learned some moves, built up strong biceps, worked on being a good listener, and spent some time with a few friends. He was glad, though, the season finished and he could go back to being home in the afternoons. We are so proud of him for doing his best, even when he was scared. We had a lot of fun cheering on our beautiful, caring, strong son. We love you, Mr C!

Waiting with Daddy by the mat

Attempting to do a "Fireman's Carry"
during practice