Mum stuff | Its okay to lose...

Today, Sethy-boy competed in his first school swimming carnival. To say I was worried was an understatement. Seth has regularly been attending swimming lessons for years, but he's never swum more than 14m straight. Last night, Andrew consulted his swim coach to see if she thought he was up to swimming 25m, to which she said..."put him in the 50m! ...and if they're doing back stroke, put him in that too!". We were still not convinced, and left the choice up to him.

The time came. Seth lined up at the end of the pool to swim in the 25m freestyle race...and off they went. Andrew tells me that he did really well until the end. There were Year 6 boys at the other end waiting for them in case they got into trouble, and the boy in Seth's lane swam out to get him which slowed him down.  After he got out of the pool, they called me...

me: "How did you go mate?"
Seth: "I came last." You could hear in his voice that he was really disappointed.
me: "That's okay. Did you make it to the end?"
Seth: "Yes, but it was very tiring, and I came last."
me: "But did you have fun?"
Seth: "Yes I did." You could hear his attitude picking up.
me: "That's great buddy! I'm so proud of you!"
Seth: "Thanks mum. It was great being in the pool!"

I'm so proud that Seth had a go, and tried his hardest. I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter where you place, as long as you do your best. I'm not one of those mothers that thinks every child should get a trophy. Its excellent character building to feel defeat occasionally. How else do you learn to try harder?

Seth has always had a great attitude when it comes to sport. During rugby league season, he's a little dynamo and can tackle kids literally more than a foot taller than him. He's fast, he's enthusiastic and always gives his best. He's the team mate who cheers up the other boys if they lose, and the first one to congratulate someone if they score a try. Love that.

Now Seth knows he can swim 25m, and he'll do it again.  Next year, maybe he'll tackle the 50!

Cheers, Lis.