Thursday, June 2, 2011

I dream of Sports Days

I have just gotten the news that there is a new addition to the clan, a new nephew and cousin for MM. That brings to 6 in total with one more on the way. But we will have to get busy to get the numbers up for a decent showing at the sports days I intend to organise every summer!
You see it falls to me, the one living abroad, to ressurect this excellent tradition. When I was young our Uncle in Australia would come home every four/five years or so. A sports day would be held in one of the fields around Granny's house. It was great because there wasn't more than ten years between the oldest and youngest cousins. There were always a few of us in the same age category so races were organised accordingly. The competition was fierce, at least I was determined to win, and I'm sure I did....!
We would watch in awe at the older brothers/sisters as they pounded with leopard like speed down the track. The best of all of course was the parents race. This is when the family loyality really came into play. You could laugh at the gait of them galloping around the track but secretly your own mother/father was your one focus. There was no shortage of competitiveness among the parents either. I have no doubt that they all remember who won the parents race that year when I was around seven. We all do!
Anyway dear family, what do you think? Can you imagine reliving those days through our own children? Will we be able to keep our own favouritism at bay? I doubt it! And of course we all know that I am a favourite for the parents race, being the youngest and most spritely! All I have to say is, keep the babies coming!

2 comments:

  1. Bring it on!!!

    Our dog counts as a daughter too, right? for the 100 metres?

    Future sports days sound like a plan :-)

    The 20 yard toddle to start with next year...

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's hard to come to terms with being in the parents race. I'm mightily curious which of us is now the fastest.. have I gained a few seconds on Cathal in the past 25 years? Revenge served cold and sweet if so. Blast it, just remembered Paul Flanagan is also a Daddy :-(

    ReplyDelete