A Little ( Off ) Track

The boys had their first track meet of the Spring season. All seven are on the same team this year! Their team uniforms haven't arrived yet so they don't look quite so official in these pictures, but I am hoping you'll visit again when they have arrived. Thomas and Michael had such fun their first time competing. While I am not thinking we have any amazing runners in our brood, they have always enjoyed challenging themselves and making progress on personal bests. Their coach always emphasizes the fun of the sport and team spirit. Here are a few shots from today.

I was very happy to actually 'see' the boys run today as last year I didn't make it to any meets as Sophia was still nursing and too little to really go anywhere for 4 hours at a time, especially with another 2 and 3 year old. Fred would call me from the meets and tell me when the boys were about to begin and how they placed, but it was difficult to not be there in person.

So today I happily had charge of the three little ladies as the boys were carted off to their different events by their father. They were pretty good except for a brief few minutes of hell, compliments of Mary.


( Here's the off track part)

Just before Thomas began his 400 meter race, Mary began her ascent to the top of the bleachers. This is no big deal to me. She is 4 and can handle stairs. I however was holding Sophie  for my fourth hour straight. Sophia had predetermined today was my day to stand for something. I wish she had merely wanted me to take a political stand, or ideological stand, no such luck. She just wanted me to STAND, literally holding her all day. If I even tried to sit down, she would let out a blood curdling wail and force me off my tush once again to save my poor eardrums from any damage. Sarah was ( 2 hours past her nap time) attached to my right leg in such a fashion that it would take surgical removal in order to extract her. Mary  meanwhile had been working on disobedience all afternoon and was finally mastering it as she climbed up the bleachers despite persistent pleas from her Mother not to.

Finally after ignoring me for the millionth time, I called up to her to at least be careful as she tucked herself neatly in the uppermost corner. Don't worry,I was mindful to use my Reassuring Mommy Voice (RMV).

Whats that you say?

You've never heard of the Reassuring Mommy Voice?

That's  the Mommy voice you use in open spaces when you are  incredibly frustrated but cannot force the public at large into listening to you deteriorate into a downward spiral  of  anger and lunacy merely because your 4 year old KNOWS you are in public and is pushing your buttons and holding you hostage by using this public audience to her advantage so she can behave like a brat and a half.

  ( *gasp for air* , yes that WAS  meant to be one sentence)

You'll be able to recognize the R.M.V.  when you hear Mommies all over saying things in a pitch 2 octaves above normal sounding more like Snow White then a human like:

 "Honey, please stop waving the restaurant steak knife 2 inches from the baby's face!"  ( whispering something under her breath) and then letting out a pretty little chuckle punctuating it with kisses and hugs while the child gets a dazed and  puzzled expression on his/her face as if new words have just been introduced into their vocabulary by accident.

 So now the trouble became, do I watch Thomas age 7, in his first race in front of me, the 2 little girls clinging to me, or the darling 4 year old behind me? The whiplash began to set in rather quickly. The gun went off  Thomas began the first bend and then Mary...

Disappeared!

Vanished!

Poof!

Harry Houdini would have been proud. She obviously  had timed her escape carefully on my behalf.

Now, I leapt to my feet mumbling under my breath that I was going to miss Thomas and doing  my best to keep my face from looking contorted. I began descending the bleachers holding Sophie and dragging Sarah Quasimodo style down the steep flight of aluminum, (and boy was there a bell I was looking to ring!) .

 I began calling out in the same R.M.V.  "Oh Mary , Mary Joan, where are you  little darling?" and under my breath I continued to mutter !@#$%^&*&, the response:

 NOTHING.

 I called some more a little louder. "Mary, Mary Dear!"

 NOTHING AGAIN. I was finally at the base of the bleachers and knew I would not be here to see Thomas complete the race. (And NO I was not worried someone had nabbed her I always tell my children kidnappers look for GOOD little children!)  When I finally cleared  the field and began making my way towards the bathrooms to retrace the path we walked in on, I saw a wisp of a red dress peeking out from under the seats. Yes, she had climbed under the bleachers and was hiding from me very effectively and very purposely. I called her over with my finger. She wouldn't come. I climbed under the bleachers with Sarah and Sophie and retrieved her. (She was fine but lets just say her eardrums probably now hurt a little.)

 Thankfully Thomas has a wonderful father and older brothers who cheered him all the way to the finish line. I would show you what he looked like at that moment, but this was my view:

I did manage to sneak in one of him during long jump a while later ( thank you Lord!):

And lastly one of the car ride home, the real reason we sign our kids up for track is so they will sleep better ! Here 8 out of 9!