Ok, so maybe not popular demand, but nonetheless some form of demand. My break from the blogging world has been self imposed but not something I've particularly enjoyed.

I've been enjoying some time playing Mr. Mom as my son is still involved in his wrestling. I have to say that he gets beat a lot, but I have yet to see him get down on himself for losing. Everybody talks about being a good sport and this kid IS.

He is farily new to the game so that makes it a bit easier for him to handle defeat, but it's more than that and it's more than I can take any credit for. He understands that it's competition. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, but in the end you are testing yourself against all comers.

A couple of weeks ago we were at a wrestling competition and he drew the best kid in the division for his first match. I didn't know how he would handle it. He has lost to this kid before, and in all fairness everybody else has lost to this kid as well. I asked him if he remembered the boy he was getting set to wrestle. His response...."Duh!" I took that as a yes and asked him what his strategy was. Pretty simple stuff coming from a nine year old really. "I'm gonna try to pin him. If I can't do that I'm gonna try and score a ton of points early, and if that doesn't work, I'm gonna try not to get pinned." I thought that was pretty sound strategy. He went out for his match and was pinned in 2 minutes of the first period.

As my son came jogging back up to the bleachers where I was sitting, I got prepared to tell him it was ok, and he would get him next time. All the stuff a parent is supposed to tell their child after a defeat right? His first words to me when he got back were, "I lasted about 30 seconds longer this time so I must be getting better." Enough said. I didn't offer my pitiful cheer up words as I realized he didn't need them. He saw improvement and he was happy with that. It wasn't a huge amount of improvement, but it was some and he figured that it was enough to warrant sticking around with the wrestling thing for a little while longer.

My kids are constantly teaching me things about character. This was just one little example, but there are tons of them and I get a little tidbit on almost a daily basis. By the way, my son's coach texted me on Monday to tell me that the same kid that pinned my boy just got back from Oklahoma where he won nationals in his weight class. So I guess lasting at all was a good thing.

The biggest thing I've been able to bring away from my son being involved in this sport is, he knows what it takes to succeed. He realizes already that to win the war you have to win some battles, but not all of them. He has shown me that perseverance is a key to success. I didn't realize he had it in such quantity but for a little guy he has more than his share. So he keeps plugging away at it, and I keep cheering him on. Wrestling is like a neighborhood community. He has made friends from other towns and schools along the way and now when we show up somewhere they are all off together talking and joking until it's their time to wrestle.

So I'm in sort of unfamiliar territory. I was much more involved in team sports growing up and didn't enjoy wrestling at all. Thankfully I have one son playing tennis and that is at least something I can speak with him about. He even asks advice sometimes on how to play certain shots, and how to deal with different attitudes. It's a pretty awesome feeling to be able to offer some wisdom about something to my kids.

So stay tuned as the next wrestling match is the first weekend of February. I can hardly wait to see how the little one does. I have to admit I'm more excited about what comment he will offer after the fact.