It's Time to Hit the Mats!

Wrestling mats that is...wrestling season for Neil has been going on since the very beginning of November. He has a 7-3 season so far and is one of the go to kids. He has been to every tournament this year and is enjoying it yet again. Last year when he came home and told me that he wanted to wrestle, I had some serious anxiety about it. I still get anxiety whenever he wrestles but not out of fear of him getting hurt. Our kids have great coaches who stress the importance of wrestling safely. I love the camaraderie of all the kids and parents on the wrestling team. We all cheer for all the kids no matter what. We are happy for the victories and we are sad for the losses. The losses are hard because these boys take it so hard when they lose. They put their hearts on the line and after all of that effort, to lose is devastating to them. I know Neil takes it so hard when he loses. We are constantly reminding him that he is a leader on his team and he has to be an example of being a gracious loser. There was one match where I think his confidence got the best of him and he could have beat the kid but he let the kid beat him. He was pretty upset with himself. We always tell him to leave it on the mat. Being upset and crying isn't going to change the result, you just have to refocus and try harder next time.

Daniel is wrestling in club again this year. Their first tournament isn't until New Year's Eve, and he's getting so excited. He's doing really well in practice and staying focused. It's hard because we have a lot of new kids and many of them want to spend the practice session doing cartwheels instead of real practicing so Daniel gets a little frustrated. Luckily there are a couple kids who are there to practice and he gets some real practice time in.

I am so proud of our boys who have worked really hard and who stay focused. I'm not looking forward to all the driving but I am looking forward to watching my boys wrestle!

One of my favorite pictures. I took it after Neil lost a rough match and I caught Kevin talking to him, hugging him and comforting him.