Things have been busy round here… and not just with our boys doing their thing in the paddock here
on the property.
…
The local ladies (OK the boys have helped too, but it’s been mostly the girls) of the Parents and Citizens’ Association for my son’s tiny one-teacher school have been planning, inviting, scheming, working-beeing and generally building up to our annual sporting event. The day has been known since it’s inception as The Goodwill Games, and includes all the little schools and home-schooled children from the region in a sports day.
And it’s theme is Goodwill (duh!).
Anyone else get a flash of Matt Damon then?
No? OK.
Moving right along…
…
As this year’s P&C secretary, I had the task of inviting local businesses to sponsor the event, local dignitaries to attend, and encourage the local media to promote it. This kept me a bit busy, amid my other chores. Out of mischief, if you like. Most of the time anyway.
…
One of the things I also managed, was to get an extra award added to the trophy list.
This is the Goodwill medal, handed to kids who have been outstanding with their sportsmanship and goodwill to other competitors throughout the day. Isn’t it lovely?
…
The Games also offers encouragement awards for those who haven’t won much but tried hard. I love that we can reward kids for effort and behaviour as much as achievement. You can never encourage kids enough to be good sportsman-like competitors, in my book. Of course, you can tell I was one of those kids who didn’t take home too many blue ribbons from athletics events, can’t you? Good sportsmanship – and its rewards – was something I learned pretty early on.
…
One of my friends (hello
Elle!) suggested we also implement a Kick Up the Butt award for any aggressive parents who annoyed the officials. We held off on this one, this year! But we may well take it to the vote at the next P&C meeting.
…
We also promoted and sold tickets in this little gem…
It’s a “yards table” handmade by the grandpa of one of
Dash’s classmates. It converts from a six-seat dining table for kids to a play table with a full set of yards, complete with working gates and even a little trough. It’s totally
fabulous and people went mad for it. I actually had
friends try and make me promise not to sell more tickets so they’d have better odds in the draw!!
…
And so, with weeds chipped, pikelets cooked, cakes baked and almost everything organised to within an inch of its life, we held The Goodwill Games over the weekend.
It was a big day.
More than a hundred kids climbed into their uniforms and competed in a sneaky cold wind, and an equal number of adults cheered their charges on.
Dash’s wonderful, hardworking teacher reckons this pic of his two youngest charges looks like the famous muddy rugby league image used for the ARL trophy!
…
We sold a lot of sausage rolls and pies and coffee, as kids and adults fought the numbing chill. (The adults had the coffees, not the kids. They just downed the pastries and ran round like crazy things to stay warm.)
There were plenty of goosebumps and red noses.
There were lots of winners and losers.
Laughter and tears.
This particular sight almost broke one mama’s heart (said she with an angst-ridden shudder!) … my little man is no long-distance runner and that finish line looked a million miles away. I never was much of a runner, myself. And SSB claims he can’t run out of sight on a dark night. Poor little Dash lived up to his genetics and was in trouble after about the 50 metres mark. He saw how far ahead the other kids were, grabbed at his chest and I nearly had a heart attack myself.
But his colour was still good, and that promise I made to let him be a ‘normal little boy’ rang loud in my mind, so I held off for a bit…
God, even looking at this photo makes me want to reach out through the computer screen, grab him away from that track and hug the tears away. We called for him to keep going though… just as two of Dash’s older schoolmates ran to the track and guided him home.
He
made it!
I was so proud of these girls, AND for my little man making it to that blessed finish line, despite the tears.
Goodwill and heart.
Then, after the
rain, there was
sunshine…
Dash recovered beautifully and went on to win minor place ribbons in the high jump, discus, ‘shotput‘ (actually a vortex footy) and his team also did well in the ball games.
Nice throw, little man!
…
After the kids had finished running, jumping and throwing…
and hurdling over beer cartons…
I said hurdling TLW!!
(My girl is way too smart for that… she’s doing the whole ‘running by like I haven’t noticed the boxes I’m s’posed to jump over’ thing. Works for her!)
…
Then it was time for the Old Fogies races. This is where all the adults are commandeered to try their hand at some of the very events they had coaxed their offspring and nieces and nephews through earlier. I have to say, there was much less goodwill and a great deal more cheating than the ‘real’ events.
Nonetheless, it was all very entertaining!
Go you good thing!!(Who IS that sexy bearded man??)
The Fogies teams then lined up for captain ball.
Hello! Hey, Tom… look at the ball, for heaven’s sake!!
…
Despite being upset during his running races, Dash was later philosophical about the competition.
“Mum, it doesn’t matter if you don’t win…” he declared on the way home, smoothing out the second and third ribbons he had garnered.
He smiled as he looked up.
“And guess what?
Red and green are my favourite colours anyway!
“They are for Christmas, you know!”
I agreed wholeheartedly and returned his grin.
I pondered how the season of Goodwill was already upon my son…
I turned to mention the connection to him but he had already fallen into an exhausted sleep…
…
And now as I trawl through the images from the Games, I give the final word/image to Dash’s cousin, Rosie, whose happy, decorated face (I believe) completely summed up the day.
What do you think she wants for Christmas?
17 Comments
Anonymous
Whenever I see a “Dash” post it makes me think of the little fellow on the movie “The Incredibles”. Your little Dash is pretty incredible too!
Remudamom
Leslie
Oh Gosh that was a beaut read this morning! 🙂
debby
BB, what a lovely childhood your children are having. It’s just so sweet and innocent (cue Donny Osmond). I wish that all children could have such a wonderful day.
The clutching at his chest thing would have terrified me as well. You did good to hold tough…
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
Remudamom – Dash definitely didn;t live up to his name that day. He’s actually quite speedy in little bursts, but his heart wasn’t in the bigger races. I hope you subscribe to comments, cause I tried hard to leave another comment on your site but it WILL NOT LET ME!! Arrgghhh…
leslie – glad you enjoyed. It was a great day!! Hope Canberra isn’t too cold this morning..
Deb – part of the reason we moved here was we thought it was a great place to raise kids. It’s not all Pollyanna (or Donny Osmond) of course… but I try to keep the focus (get it!) on the good stuff.
BB
Pencil Writer
Oh, my own heart was pumping for Dash–during his dash. I can only imagine how your’s was going! GREAT post. LOVE the medals! They look so KEWL! And Rosie definitely summed up the rosey-ness of the day!
All your family looked very happy (for most of it) and it looked like a great sunny day all round!
I do so enjoy your posts, BB! Keep ’em comin’!
Feral Beast
That looks like an absolutely fantastic day all round!
And so great to hear you invite the local homeschooled kids too – I homeschool my son but there aint many invites for us from the local suburban school on sports days!
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
PW – it was a good day, despite the sadness in the 200m and 400m! And while it was sunny the wind was wicked! Some windburned rosey cheeks the next day…
Feral Beast – I’m thinking you may be Jayne in disguise… yes?? A homeschooler?? Oh you have my absolute admiration. How DO you do it???
BB
Alison
I love the idea of a Goodwill Medal!! I wasn’t much good at athletics either – if there was a Goodwill award though, I might have been more inclined to actually turn up!
I’m also all for the Kick up Butt medal – another fabulous idea!
I was cheering young Dash over the finish line here – what a little trooper he is, and you too mum, for letting him be a normal boy 🙂
Gorgeous pictures, as always. Looks like a great day was had by all!
I’ve tagged you for a meme, too.. If you’d like to play.
Laurel
Oh – nice day for everyone. It doesn’t look too cold in the pictures?
Leslie
Oh! Oh! We began our own Goodwill Games today in my class – as you inspired me!
So far, we have had two events with medal wins – throw the vertex and a very successful round of Whats the time, Mr Wolf?
Pencil Writer
BB, just watched a link from an email you might enjoy–sports related–don’t know if I can do this correctly, but I’ll try!
Well, don’t know how to make it a “direct link” but if you’re interested, you can type it in your browser, I suppose. It was VERY moving, and a couple of girls could certainly have qualified for the GOODWILL medal!
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videold=3380875
Phew! Hope it works for you!
Jenni
Aw, those pictures of Dash made me tear up. Good for you for letting him finish it out. What angels those girls were to recognize that he needed a little support. Wonderful lessons all around.
I love it when parents and coaches realize that it is the whole person and not just the athlete they are training. There are so many good life lessons to be learned from sports, but too often they are overlooked in the drive to win. The head coach and owner of the gym dd goes to sees that. He emphasizes success in school, healthy diet and habits, a balanced life (not all about gymnastics), and keeping the GIRLS rather than the sport first. It has paid off for the girls and the gym. He now has several Olympic hopefuls. Dd has decided she wants to move on to other things, but I’m glad she got the experience of working under such a wonderful coach and an even better human being.
And that table is fabulous! Na just got rid of her farm set, but I want that table for myself.
steviewren
Aw, thanks for making me cry. Lovely post.
Jayne
OOps!
Yep, twas me posting yesterday, I didn’t realise my son was still signed in lol!
Yep, I homeschool. It’s not too hard as kids naturally love to learn – the hard part is keeping up with them lol 🙂
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
Leslie – how lovely to have started something special in your class… may goodwill be the winner!
Jenni – I couldn;t agree more. And you will have to stand in a very long queue to order your own table from the craftsman who did this one. He’s started a major trend!
SW – darned near had me in tears … glad it touched you (in a good way I hope!).
Jayne – you had me going for a bit! Homeschooling is definitely something that we have considered, but I am really not organised enough. Plus I like the socialising Dash gets at his little school. We’ll see how we go!
🙂
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