I won. I know it seems unfair but I usually do win because I don't give up. Sportsmanship is lost these days and we see so many athletes cheating in their field of expertise and their lives that it leaves no role models for our children.
When I was a teenager in the 80's names like Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs and Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and Bill Ranford and Tony Eason were gods! You didn't speak them without a goosebump riding along your back and awe. Not to mention the other teams with Dan Marino, Jim McMahon, Boomer Esiason, John Elway and Joe Montana. We looked up to these guys and watched them sweat, and every kid wanted to be like them long before they wanted to "be like Mike." My idols were different but I wanted it badly and tried my damnedest if even I didn't completely succeed. I wanted to be in the Navy so badly. I joined NJROTC and swam and wore my uniform proudly even when other kids mocked us and made fun of us. I was physically fit even with a big ass and I lifted weights. I was a flag twirler and on the JROTC color guard in every parade and twirling my ass of every basketball game. I played all sorts of sports and maintained an almost straight "A" average. Granted, I never made it to the boys/girls in blue, but I tried hard and learned valuable skills along the way. There wasn't a sport I wouldn't try and the only things I found difficult were those damn chin-ups and cartwheels (there's something about a chunky girl with most of her weight below her waist trying to flip over with it all up top that just didn't amuse me) and neither proved useful in life. I lived this long and still never needed to roll along like a wheel or hold myself up on a bar by my throat! I was active then and an outdoorsy kid long before we ever knew it was killing me. I swam like a fish and fished like a man and hiked and climbed trees and played wiffle ball and badminton and picked blueberries by the power lines up in Wendell, Mass. and boysenberries from the thorny thickets in my grandmother's backyard. When winter came it was worse on the boys because the cool icy weather was just perfect and for a short time I felt normal and excelled at most things I did from snow-fort building to snowball fights to snow "boarding" on our plastic sleds my dad bought from either Zayer's or Bradlee's every year. I shoveled snow and delivered papers and Avon and babysat and collected cans. I still had exceptionally good grades and hardly disobeyed my family. I was raking leaves and weeding the garden and mowing the lawn, with a push mower without a motor-the old fashioned kind. I was a very active brat. So my query is this: what the hell is wrong with our kids today?
It's not like I hold her back from doing shit but she keeps thinking everything is a chore. Mind you I had tons of chores on top of my busy play schedule and I didn't go to bed until 10pm and was up everyday by five. I took care of my siblings and went to aunts and uncles and grandparents to do spring cleaning. Guess who walked the dogs and fed the animals and lugged in wood and did the dishes and unloaded the car from shopping and helped dad pack the camper every vacation and clean out the garage? My daughter has her room to clean and the pets to feed twice a day and their cat boxes to clean. I expect her to help me unload the car or she does most of it. She rarely does dishes and hardly does much else and complains that she doesn't have anytime at all and I find her sedentary and sitting watching television or sleeping every spare minute. I can't let her out in the daylight but I won't stop her at sunset and god forbid I ask her to pick up the yard or some other thing. Today she lost several games of bowling to her "decrepit" disabled, mental case of a mother. Gambling is never a good bet to take opposition with me on as its ties run deep in my family! I want her to succeed and find enjoyment in life. I know she loves to read, as every waking moment I could I would sneak up the hill to the power lines and read a book while listening to my "Walkman" radio.(pre-Ipod) So, imagine her shock when her "granny" of a mother swung her ass in the dirt at bowling, a sport my whole family grew up in and one I used to teach. I feel for her but I give her no slack. One thing she has learned is that an old dog Never forgets its tricks, and another is that she is capable still of learning more. It took her awhile to give in once she realized it wasn't going to be me throwing a game and the fates know she tried to pick another, which I had to discourage because I played tennis too, and I wouldn't let her because she needs to learn to stick with one thing until she gets it right then move along if she wishes. I never learned this shit overnight and fell down ice skating more than Nancy Kerrigan after Tonya Harding's hubby took a stick to her! She is lucky. I had to go out in the sun to do all these things and with technology being what it is today, she is fortunate enough to live within the guidelines of our species and still have games and exercise at her fingertips if she only wanted to use it. Thank the gods for Wii, as I think it was "we" the Wamphyrii it was designed for! So she hung her head low as we headed home and felt a little bit less of a champ, but made me feel a little bit more of a mom, a normal mom, and for that she will be grateful for later when I am less bitter because I had my proverbial moment in the "sun."
Now she will ponder where it all stems from and she will seek me out and even challenge me again and then bribe me to play tennis, so sad to think of her ego after that one, and get up and get moving. I love her and I won't yield to her because she needs to EARN it like I did. And when she does she will want to do more and then I won't worry so much about her lazy lifestyle or her poor sportsmanship.~mobe's love to her all and her all to her loves.
ps. I love you Lobo and I know you are reading this today and will be sad in that you lost but I am proud you still tried and finally listened to your "old" mama!
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