On Having More than One Boy...

This is Jonathan about to take a corner kick at an annual soccer tournament he recently attended. His team went 2-1-1, which is pretty good, considering I don't think during either the fall or spring regular season they won more games than tehy lost. Which is the reason for this post.

I know moms of more than one boy have noticed that boys are just the teensiest bit competitive. (Or am I the only one??). My boys can make a competition out of anything from "Who can eat the fastest" to "Who can brush their teeth the fastest" to "Who can finish peeing the fastest". Anything, really, can be made into a competition. Except for the ones I keep trying like "Let's see who can clean a room the fastest" or "Let's see who can make the most compliments". Those never seem to catch on. I think the boys are starting to notice that one of them is perhaps better than other ones of them in sports. And, an on-going competition has begun: "Let's see who has the most trophies".

Ryan is always on a winning team. Always. He's got more trophies and he's an all-star. (Who is more than likely going to win more trophies this summer). Jonathan hasn't been on a winning team yet. He's a good soccer player, but he has had to work very hard to get better. He's received trophies and medals, but only the "particiaption" kind. It's starting to really bum him out. Although, really, in the future, that practice of working hard will serve him better than Ryan having everything come naturally I would think. It especially stinks for Jonathan since Ryan is the LITTLE brother! I'm just glad they play seperate sports, so the difference isn't entirely noticeable.

My philosophy as a mom is to always play on my kids' strengths and downplay their weaknesses. One of the coolest things about Jonathan is that if you asked every kid in the family who their favorite sibling is (which, of course, I wouldn't do) they would all answer Jonathan. Just there's no trophy for that. And, believe me, if I made some and passed them out...well, it just wouldn't be the same.