cheer-LEADING

Little j.'s baseball team hit a slump this year.  I have likened them to the Bad News Bears more than a few times this season.  And that's okay, really. Last year, his same team placed 2nd in the county and had a near perfect season.  It's always fun to be a part of a winning team...but how you react and behave when you are on a losing team has more of an impact....I think.

j. has always been competitive. Competition runs through his veins as adrenaline.  This is not something his dad and I have quite understood, actually. It's a bit mystifying.  At 5, under his own set of standards and understanding, he would equate "losing" with being a loser.  Again, not something that I felt we had particularly emphasized in his young life.  Struggling with this concept has been challenging, but we have seen some huge strides in little j's attitude lately.

So, back to baseball.  His bad news bears team has won only a handful of games this season. Don't tell j, but his dad and I hoped this might be the case to help teach him how to lose....gracefully. The wins were pure highs and the losses, well, they weren't so low..... amazing!  His skill has improved dramatically....there have been some awesome plays at first, great catches, consistent outfield hits....but more importantly, graceful acknowledgements of better teams.  Sure, he gets disappointed when he has run the numbers in his head and realizes at about the 4th inning that there is not a chance that they can come back.  That they have already lost.... But, rather than sulking, or crying or having a MAJOR meltdown, he has shown his maturity of late and continued to play with integrity.  wow.

Before the game yesterday, he (unprompted) stood in front of his teammates in the dug-out and proceeded to give a pep-talk that went something like this:

"Okay, guys...we really need to have some spirit for this game. NO sitting around not cheering for each other, but really shouting each other on. When we are batting, let's have some spirit! Let us hear you! It keeps us motivated. (with rising intensity...) LET'S HEAR YOUR SPIRIT FOR THE TEAM!"  

Seriously, I am NOT KIDDING in the least...this is what my 6, almost 7, year old said to his team as they stared at him from the bench. Then he proceeded to the stands and gave the same speech to the parents and spectators. 

HOLY COW KID... you amaze me.

Then, they lost.