It was our first experience having two children’s events to follow on track and field day! It was a whole other dynamic, but thankfully, Brady could come along, so we were able to split up when necessary.
We all began at the high school track for the dash. Its the 100m dash if you’re older, and some little bitty version of the dash if you’re in kindergarten 😉 It was an interesting – though not surprising – dynamic for me to watch both of my children do their activities. The reality of the situation is that Dekker hasn’t stretched yet, and doesn’t keep up the same way. His big feelings come out hard when he doesn’t place where he wants, which was hard to watch. But he did well at the dash 🙂 I was very proud of how he ran! Laela ran her first dash this year as well, and as many people pointed out to me after the fact, that girl is a runner!! She wore a HUGE smile the whole time, and kept up well! She placed high up in her group, and even got to run a second heat. She was just beaming. It was awesome 🙂
From there, Rowan and I followed Laela’s group to running long jump, and Brady kept Solly and Waverly at the track for Dekker’s 400m. While I wasn’t there, I hear he finished his race, which is more than can be said for me, I’m sure! Laela was nervous of running long jump, having told me this morning that it was hard for her to coordinate where to land. But she ran it, and she did an excellent job!
Brady and the others came and caught the end of Laela’s long jump, and then we split off again! Laela had ball throw, and specifically requested I join her. So I took Solly and Wavy this time, and Brady took Rowan to watch Dekker do shuttle runs. Dekker had been the most excited about shuttle runs, and he excelled at it! Yay Dekker!!! Laela maintained a happy face through ball throw as well, but she was probably least excited about it.
Then the kids schedules alternated, so we were able to go to Dekker’s standing broad jump all together. He was doing well, making good strides, but it became clear the the little kids needed to call it for the morning. Brady took them home, so I could stay and finish out the day. Last year, I had been the one to take the kids home, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. Dekker finished up his jumps very well, and then I headed over to catch Laela’s standing broad jump at a different area of the school yard. She also did really well!
Laela headed in for the rest of the day. I visited with some friends while the kids ate lunch, and then I followed Dekker around to his last couple of events. Unfortunately, things were a bit difficult after that. Dekker was SO overtired, and while he enjoyed the ball throwing event to its fullest, he was very discouraged with where he placed. He cried and waved his green ribbon at me from the side :/ It was sad. But there was a break between that event and his final event, so he rallied and played on the playground and perked up a bit.
His final event was running long jump, and he did awesome! He didn’t fall or slip. His first run, he noticed his shoe had come open, and he stopped to fix it and ran back to the beginning without any pause or disappointment. He just rolled with it. It was awesome 🙂 I did, however, leave him in tears. He was mad that he would have to walk home after school, and promised me he’d be super angry for the rest of the day. His poor overdone self just hates disappointment 🙁 So I gave him a hug and a kiss and headed home, even though he was sad. Because sometimes we do hard things.
My little track stars did SUCH a beautiful job today! It was really a happy day of accomplishment and excitement! I feel so grateful to be able to be at these school events, and that Brady has the flexibility to come along as well! I really loved today.