Field Day

It is Field Day at school today. They call it Field Day because the Twins' entire school along with two other mountain schools go into town and play games and run around in a field. Not like a pasture or corn field. More like a groomed field behind a school.

They will play physical games like tug-of -war and have foot races. It is a whole bunch of fun.

The foot races are really fun. Now that I think about it, they really aren't races. They are more like runs. I guess you are not really racing. That would mean somebody won the race. These runs can't really have a winner. That would hurt somebody's feelings. These runs have participants and everyone gets the same award for running. A purple ribbon.

And you know what, no matter how the adults try to make every kid equal; those darn kids turn it into a race. Those kids secretly know who the fastest runner is and who isn't. The parents pretend they didn't see who finished the run first, and give every kid a purple ribbon.

Girl Twin is a natural athlete. She runs pretty well. I don't know if she is faster than any of the other kids, because she doesn't care if she wins. As long as she is with the other girls that is winning enough for her.

She is a lot like Ivy was at that age. While playing youth soccer, Ivy and another little girl stopped playing in the middle of the game to fix each other's hair ties. I was the referee in the game and Ivy ran up to me after fixing her hair to ask if she looked nice.

Ivy didn't win a collegiate soccer scholarship. Hey, she didn't go to beauty school either, so you never know.

Boy Twin, now that's a different story. At last year's Field Day he decided to disregard the rules and try to turn the run into a race. He runs flat-footed. You can hear him run. He is actually louder than he is fast. When Boy Twin runs down the driveway, I always check to see if it's him or the yaks are charging.

Somehow he got ahead of the pack and stayed there. Some of the other kids tried to catch him. One of them did catch him. It was his friend, Big Kid. Just before the finish line Big Kid slowed down to let Boy Twin win. I'm still trying to figure that out.

So let's talk about this year's race. I should mention the race is one lap of a 1/4 mile track with the entire 3rd grades from three schools running. Boy Twin and another kid break away from the pack. They are ¾ of the way around the track. Here comes Big Kid. Boy Twin slows down to wait for Big Kid. (It was Boy Twin's turn to let Big Kid win.) The three kids are running for the finish line.

Someone forgot to tell the other kid this was Big Kid's year to win. The other kid finished in first place, Big Kid was 2nd, Boy Twin was 3rd. If you have ever been to the store, you might have met the other kid. Yep, Girl Twin! She wasn't letting anyone win.

We need to congratulate Big Kid. He set a field day record for Shot Putt. Remember, this is a third grader. The previous record was set by a sixth grader. This is a big, strong kid.

Before I leave you, I need to update this story. Sometime between Ivy's soccer game and today, Ivy found she is competitive. Ivy has become the best horse riding, pistol shooting, knitting and spinning operation manger in the world.

Our crazy lives!

Monner