Well, I guess I just didn’t imagine it would happen so quickly but the eldest of the 3 Musketeers has become completely obsessed with all things SPORT and he’s pulling his comrades with him. I love it really; sport can teach us so many things about this mad world and about ourselves. It is a good vehicle to release all manner of issues bubbling away below the surface. But this, this is another level.
So last Monday after school, homework and some great behaviour I relented at the incessant request to watch 'sport' on the TV. A brief search through the channels found us subjected to St. Johnstones v Aberdeen with French commentary and he sat ensconced for 90 minutes.
A couple of days later fondling oranges in the supermarket the baby boy pipes up loudly with ‘ohhhhh Jimmy Jimmy, ohhhh Jimmy Jimmy, walking along singing a song walking in a Jimmy wonderland’ a complex ditty (aren’t they all?) about the much revered cricket bowler Jimmy Anderson. The scamp is 2 years old! It did make the gentleman behind us snort into his basket of corned beef.
And this morning.... the biggest boy of the house (my husband) sat up as his alarm went off ‘Best shower quickly, I can't be late’ I looked at my watch, it has 45 minutes later than his usual alarm and remembered he wasn’t leaving until later. As he rushed out the bedroom door he yelled ‘I am off for a meeting in 2 hours but the Ryder Cup starts in 5 minutes’..... it is not even 7am. So now downstairs are 4 people swarming around the TV watching men in Pringle sweaters walk around pristinely manicured courses and that is my weekend mapped out between actual sporting fixtures in our megre real life.
It is madness, it seems madness but I actually think it’s marvellous. I love what sport can give us. A platform on which to better our physical and mental health..... to learn about rules, sharing, interacting, winning, losing, self-control, camaraderie, hard work, limitations, teamwork, trust and self-respect. Of course, as with so many things in life, it needs channeling in order that it doesn't become too much of an obsession or foster aggression or division.... but the benefits of sport far outweigh the drawbacks.
I am grabbing my trainers, wetsuit, hockey stick and an armful of almanacs so I don't get left behind. Wish me luck... x
