After last week’s adventure on the track & field….field and an ill-timed overly emotional parent (me) I was obviously very proud of Hanna’s change in attitude and her agreement to participate in the event. (Read: willingness to accept a spaghetti dinner bribe)
Regardless of how she fared at the meet, we knew ahead of time she was too young to take this to the next level as she wouldn’t qualify for the must-be-9-by-June-1st rather exclusionary, dare I say ageist approach taken by the organizers.
Good news! Hanna’s first place finish in the girl’s mad dash to the finish line would not end here. The rules have apparently been amended this year, obviously after a backlash from a superstar from last year’s meet who was born at 12:01am June 2nd and Hanna was invited to participate.
Me: Hanna! Great news! You are allowed to go to the city track meet!
Hanna: I know, I thought I threw away the permission slip so you wouldn’t see it. I am NOT going and you can’t make me. (followed by a sea of blubbering tears)
I thought we had made such progress last week. We talked about how much fun the meet would be, she participated, she won a ribbon. Who wouldn’t want to keep the momentum going? Maybe this being born after June 1st thing has some legs, perhaps it has been tested in a major medical study with the outcome being, kids born after June 1st can’t remember liking track and field from one week to the next.
After another lengthy discussion, we agreed she would go to the meet.
Here is the reminder she left me in the hallway at 10pm to be sure we were all on the same page.
