Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cross Country - yep! I am really cross!!

I never really thought much about the school cross country, especially for the juniors. All a bit of fun I thought. Until this week. The past two years Hugh has come in the top few in his year level. This year now, he brings upon himself the expectation to do the same. The pressure Hugh puts on himself at times is heartbreaking and he is often reduced to tears. Now he was "expecting" to come in the top few *sigh* oh dear! All week he has talked of nothing else, planning and strategising. As a mother all I could think was the worst and wanted to cushion the fall. Trying to preapre him with the usual ... "try your best ... pace yourself ... be happy in your own performance" ya di ya di ya! I don't even think I have ever seen Hugh race in a cross country. Anyways, today I thought I better go ... just in case KWIM! LOL!


He came 4th and was happy *this mother breathes a sigh of relief*. He could have possibly even come higher if the teachers supervised properly and stoppped the cheeky ones from cutting the course. Always a hard thing to see when your kid does the right thing. Still, that's life - hey! Well done bub, let's chill out until the next life hurdle comes along hopefully not this week.


UPDATE: eekkk! Mother from hell alert! Back to the "notorious cheeky cheater". My blase attitude from this afternoon has gone. Although we are not talking about sheep stations here I realise, and everyone was rewarded with ribbons as long as you completed the race - all good until ...... Hugh comes home this afternoon and says the three "winners" (aka cheater) are going to be commended and presented at school assembly with medals tomorrow.... *sigh* What to do ... a) sit back and say "well that is life Hugh, let it go" ... or b) take a stand and say "cheating should not be rewarded on this level". Medal or not, it's about sending the right message!

What would you do?

11 comments:

Annika said...

Oh my Helen, that is a tough question...first of all, give him a big congrats for the 4th place, he definetly accomplished(sp?) what he set out to do, so YAY to him!! And for the cheaters...well..its hard, on one hand, dont sit back and do nothing and on the other hand, it might cause more troubble then it is worth?? lol...sorry that I am not much help! Hope everything works out for the best!! ((hugs))

Andrea Bonilla said...

speak you mind early. sadly we have a lot of this in our schools unfortunately parents passions in sports issues cause children to cheat. congrat to hugh for doing it the right way. I personally would let the people in charge be aware and then allow them to do what they want at least they know maybe next time they can make some changes hope it helps.

Lenore Ryan said...

You're asking our opinion? That might not be a good thing! LOL This kind of thing REALLY gets me going (and I'll share the "mother from hell" title with you!) If I were in your shoes, I'd probably leave Hugh out of it and go to the school to deal with it on my own! It's just so wrong, on many levels, and what are we teaching our children by letting it go? There's no reason to come across as a "raging #$*@&$", but just as a very concerned parent!

(It must be something with this week, as I had a similar situation for myself in the band.....where a "young girl" (high school age, maybe 16 years old who plays flute in the high school band!) came to our band practice for the first time on Monday night and was going to be permitted to perform with us at Sunday's concert! This really pissed me off, as the rest of us have been working sooo hard on this music for 15 weeks now!!! Where's the fairness in that!!???? I spoke up and so did a few others, and it was decided that she would "join" the band AFTER Sunday's concert....as it should be!! Had none of us said anything, she would have been on the stage with us this coming Sunday and there would have been several pissed off band members!!)

You only want what is just and right, but sometimes you need to speak up to make sure that happens!! Good luck to you! Please let us know what happens!!

Leah said...

I would let them know that those kids cheated. It may not do any good because sadly, cheaters always seem to prosper these days, but at least you will feel better for speaking your mind. That's always the way it works for me anyway. I say nothing and it festers! Also you will be setting an example for Hugh that you stood up for him and against the cheaters. Even if nothing is done, at least he will know you stood by him and tried to right a wrong!

Good luck chicky!

MariaT said...

Well I have no experience with this type of situation, but I would speak my mind. Tell someone in charge of the race or ceremony your opinion and let Hugh know that it wasn't fair but that's the way it goes sometimes unfortunately. Good luck with that and congrats to the little man...4th place is awesome!!

Amy said...

ask hugh what he thinks

Life in Colors said...

I agree, cheaters don't deserve a medal! Don't know what I should do, my first reaction was tell about the cheaters, but now I'm not so sure, maybe if the cheaters find out that Hugh's mom told the ones who are in charge, they might abuse Hugh(don't know if this is the right translation) All I know is that kids are tough around eachoter. Probably the best thing is to ask Hugh first what he wants.
Good luck!

Kami said...

OMG that is a tough situation and I honestly do not know what I would do. hmmmm...... Are there any other parents who feel the same way as you? Well, let us know how it goes. At least you know that Hugh is a smart boy and probably realizes that cheaters never WIN!! He is the real winner here!!!!

Val said...

even if it makes things more complicated, I would go for Hugh... I bring up the case.
But, maybe better that the cheatter don't know where it come from...

oh god... You are My winner Hugh! You deserved it!

val

evanwick said...

Grrr....that is just so frustrating. I'd definitly consider a carefully worded chat with someone. Ask whoever you'd have to point it out to if they noticed what you noticed.

Yay for Hugh though! And Yay for his great parents for obviously teaching him sportsmanship!!

Maria said...

Oh dear!
First of all - Congrats Hugh! Well done!!!
So unfair with the cheeting! I think I would have talked to the teachers/people involved in the competion without involving Hugh... I so can relate to the anger as a mother and I hope you'll get it sorted so you can have peace of mind!
PS! I've got a little message for you over at my blog, please come and play!

Blog Archive