Wrestling season is over for us for another year. Bittersweet, if I'm being honest. I love wrestling season. I enjoy spending time with my wrestling family and as crazy and busy as our schedule is - it's a GOOD busy, ya know! I miss it when it's gone. (I'm pretty certain that no one reading this, with maybe the exception of Bob, feels this way...)
Last weekend we went down to Warner Robins so Zane and Beckett could compete at Kids state. It was a very long - and mostly awesome - weekend.
Both boys exercised some "demons" by beating kids that they had lost to (at least once) during the season. Zane beat a kid who teched him (beat him by more than 15 points) just the weekend prior. That was BIG. A real clutch moment and showed us some tremendous growth in his mental ability to tackle this sport. It was easily his best win of the season - where he won a lot. This win put him into the medal rounds and he fought from there to get 4th place. So proud of him and can't wait to see what's next for him on the wrestling mats. But for now... he's continuing to do some wrestling through the spring while his focus is definitely shifting to football. Middle School football tryouts are just around the corner and he's determined to secure one of the coveted 7th grade spots on the team. More (likely much more) on that later...
Beckett was able to win (with a pin) against a kid he has never beat. This other wrestler goes to our club and will end up at our high school. These guys will, literally, be competing with and against each other for the next 8 years. His older brother will (hopefully, if Zane makes it) be on Zane's football team. We will, in other words, be around these people for a long time. They are friends. But it was still pretty awesome to watch Beckett win this match. It was good for him to realize he can do it when he tries. The bracket Beck was in was STUFFED full of people we know. He wrestled against 4 other boys that are in either our club or the West Youth program. Some people look at the fact that we have 5 110 lb 4th graders as a problem and want them to separate out into different weight classes. I think exactly the opposite. Let the boys compete against each other for the next 4 years... and when they get to high school they will be monsters. They are all really good wrestlers and I'm thankful that Beck has them (literally) in his corner and also as solid competitors.
We took this week off all things practice related. Bob was traveling, so it was great timing for us to have a quiet week. Monday, they are back to work at Morris, but it will be less intense because there won't be events every weekend. The spring/summer is for building technique - and of course having fun - until football season launches in earnest.
While the boys were wrestling, I decided to do some volunteering for Team Georgia, who was hosting the event. One of the moms from our high school team is heavily involved with Team Georgia and asked me if I could help out. If you know me at all, you know that I'm a really soft target and can't say no when someone asks me to help. So I said yes - not really knowing what I was getting into.
OH MY GOSH! Y'all - you know I love this sport. It has been the single biggest positive influence in the development of the men I am raising. (I do not say this lightly as they are all church-going, education-minded, living-in-my-house boys). But it's true. I love wrestling. But this event... these crazy parents... they ruin it. There were SO MANY mean people. Why do people - anywhere, doing anything - feel like it's OK to yell at and make demands of volunteers? Everyone on Team Georgia volunteers their time. Without them, there would be no event. And yet... I saw so many people show their asses.
I was in charge of being a "greeter" - which meant walking the (extremely long) line of people trying to get into the event to make sure everyone knew where to go. I understand it's a long line, I am also cold, I am sorry they have to wait. Sigh... And then I served as part of the team of people responsible for handing out awards. This was - no joke - probably the most stressful thing I have done in at least 10 years. Everyone wants to get their stuff first. No one listens to instructions. Everyone is out for themselves. It was awful.
I share this, not looking for any kind of pat on the back for how I chose to use my time last weekend, but to hopefully remind you all that kindness goes a long way. I saw a lot of shit this weekend that makes me think society is doomed, but I refuse to believe that. I will continue to serve others when I can. I will look for ways to be NICE to everyone around me. I will let the car in front of me in traffic. I will politely wait my turn in line even if I see someone else cut in front. I will be respectful when asking questions. I will, never ever, assume I know more than someone in a role leading others. We can fix this crazy world if we just focus on being KIND and worry far less about comparing what we are getting/doing to those around us. Good grief people - we are trying to teach all our children the respect and honor that comes from the sport of wrestling, while behaving like whiny babies... we can do better!
Soapbox over...
This weekend we have an end-of-season event for wrestling tonight. Zane will have to miss it because he's off to a weekend away with his small group from church. We will be doing some small projects around the house - mailbox painting, birdhouse feeder fixing, weeding, etc. The weather is going to be in near 80 and sunny and I honestly can't wait to just fuss around this place! We are also in the very early stages of gearing up to redo our kitchen. It's long overdue, let's be honest... and I'm excited about it. I have an itch to paint everything and freshen this whole place up. It's like I'm nesting - but I swear there's no baby on the way!
Here's a sweet picture of my dudes after we were all done last week. I love them!
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