Family Sports Day at The Vine School

Jorja's school did a good job of down playing the competitive side to school sports and instead encouraged overall participation between the peer groups, teachers and parents at their annual family day. I took Jorja and Ethan down to the fields and initially Jorja was thrilled to be at school on a Saturday, with all of us in tow!

Then she realised that it wasn't all free play and a serious case of pre-event jitters set in...

It was then that I realised how much I expected from my four year old - and unreasonably so! The obstacle course was set out before them and the older children walked them through it. Jorja started off willingly, balancing the bean bag on her head and walking slowly so as not to drop it.

She arrived at the next phase and refused to climb under the table. My heart sank - what had caused my usually fearless girl to have such a fright?

Eventually they coaxed her past the table and further along the course, all the while the lump in my own throat grew and grew...

She kept her head bowed until the very end, when she dropped her beloved bean bag into the bucket at the end and then burst into tears. Oh dear! Forntunately, Miss Thorne was with her every step of the way - encouraging her to keep going and do her best. What a blessing to have such caring teachers!

Meanwhile, brother sat on the sideline enjoying the picnic lunch.

When chatting to Jorja's Teacher afterwards, she reminded me of what a big event like this could do to the little ones - and how silly I had been to lose sight of the fact that these things can still be overwhelming for her - no matter how confident she is or appears to be in other areas.

I was relieved to find that despite her uneasiness with participating in the big sporting games, she picked up where she left off afterwards, and enjoyed the rest of the morning sharing in the picnic and introducing me to her little friends.