Competitiveness: born or bred?
I am exceptionally competitive...so is my husband. So much so that when we wrote a football referee's exam together and he was the only person who beat me (by 1 mark!), I asked for a remark!
I guess our family has the perfect combination of genes to produce more competitive offspring! My daughter (14) and my son (11) are equally competitive. Sometimes the chatter at dinner and the rising volume to have a point heard has to be quelled with a "No one is allowed to speak until their food is finished!" I guess only a mum can win that session!
Recently, my kids participated in the referee's workshop and wrote the exams - the very same ones their dad and I wrote 20 years ago. Tia was the only girl on the course and Owain the youngest. They passed level 1 and 2 with flying colours and 2 weeks later went back for Level 3. My son started crying during the exam because he couldn't remember the 10 duties of a referee (Um...there's 10??). He was stressed for an entire waiting for the results - when we told him this morning that he passed, he yelped and hugged his dad. Then we told him his sister has beat him by...1 mark! Yes one for the girls so we are tied.
Now they are planning when they can start reffing matches and of course earning cash. Some people believe that kids should not be competitive and everything should be about fun etc. While I agree that fun is definitely part of learning and growing, competitiveness should be too. The world is full of competitions and the sooner we equip our kids to cope and manage it, the sooner they experience the exhilaration of passing a referee's exam, and the harnessing the disappointment of having your sister beat you by 1 mark.
I guess our family has the perfect combination of genes to produce more competitive offspring! My daughter (14) and my son (11) are equally competitive. Sometimes the chatter at dinner and the rising volume to have a point heard has to be quelled with a "No one is allowed to speak until their food is finished!" I guess only a mum can win that session!
Recently, my kids participated in the referee's workshop and wrote the exams - the very same ones their dad and I wrote 20 years ago. Tia was the only girl on the course and Owain the youngest. They passed level 1 and 2 with flying colours and 2 weeks later went back for Level 3. My son started crying during the exam because he couldn't remember the 10 duties of a referee (Um...there's 10??). He was stressed for an entire waiting for the results - when we told him this morning that he passed, he yelped and hugged his dad. Then we told him his sister has beat him by...1 mark! Yes one for the girls so we are tied.
Now they are planning when they can start reffing matches and of course earning cash. Some people believe that kids should not be competitive and everything should be about fun etc. While I agree that fun is definitely part of learning and growing, competitiveness should be too. The world is full of competitions and the sooner we equip our kids to cope and manage it, the sooner they experience the exhilaration of passing a referee's exam, and the harnessing the disappointment of having your sister beat you by 1 mark.
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