I assumed my kids would love the Olympics too. Isn't Olympic Love genetic? I certainly thought so.
2008...Summer Olympics...Beijing. What could be better than that. I had the entire evening planned. An Opening Ceremony watch party fiesta. Me and the kids. Patrick had to work...I'm surprised he didn't request the night off to be part of the fun!
My kids didn't want to watch..."ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH...how LLLLOOOONGGGGGGG is this????????????????????...WWWWHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY do I have to watch TOOOOOOOO? MMMMMMOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. UUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
What could this mean? Were my children defective. Had they been switched at the hospital with non-Olympic loving children? How could this be?
I am proud to say, I was not the cool parent that night. I was not the understanding parent. I was not the I'm going to let you off the hook parent that night. We watched....the WHOLE thing! I had stories to tell. I shared memories of my childhood and memories of watching when they were babies. I may not have gotten them "stoked", but we watched. Bless those tv producers at NBC - they made the human interest stories just right to get kids a little bit interested in watching the gymnastics, the swimming, the track events. Heck, tennis, weight lifting...I watch it ALL!
And now it is part of our family tradition. This year Peanut was off to Altitude with friends on Opening Ceremonies night, but Murph and I had our own little watch party. And he may not have been over-the-moon thrilled, but he knew it was just something we did. We talked about the countries he has learned about in school, the athletes we have watched in other Olympics or in the X games and he was excited about Slope Style and Half Pipe.
We've watched luge, ski jumping, ice dancing, all the snowboard and freestyle skiing events, the moguls, the stories about Russia and all the athletes. We cheer for Americans. We cheer for the best uniform or name or underdog if there are no Americans in the finals. Peyton judges the ice skaters costumes far more harshly than their skating has ever been judged!
Murph is lovin' the snowboard events...anything that might be seen at the X Games, really. His 3 snow days on the hill with his makeshift snowboard have made him a teeny bit crazy. This kid tried to skateboard for years. He apparently grew into his balance because when he was younger - it was not the least bit natural for him. I remember the first time he wanted to try going down an ice covered hill on his skateboard sans trucks and I pictured the worst. But, like I said, he's grown into his balance. It brings him joy and there is nothing I love better than joy.
The kids even made cardboard skis and snowboards one evening while the games were on. They worked up a whole performance for me - they love their momma! I promised them I wouldn't post this on FB or Instagram, but I had to put it somewhere so I will never forget the moment.
Jammies, a hand made snowboard, hand made skis, handmade goggles, crutches for ski poles and joyous kiddos. How can you NOT love the Olympics! It brings out the best in us all!
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