Mandy's first meet

Mandy had her first cross-country meet yesterday. I was surprised and happy when she said she wanted to join the team. She's not one to stick with things, and she did try to quit the team before the first meet. However, now that she has completed it, she is very happy with herself and is loving it.

The first meet was an away meet.  Each of the four K-8/Middle schools are taking a turn, so Ken and I drove over so we could witness this event.  (While Jordan is also participating in Cross-Country, only 6 - 8th graders participate in the meets.)

I kept looking for Mandy in the crowd of middle school students.  It took me a while, but I found her.  She was having a great time talking and waiting for the meet to start.  

I love seeing her truly smile!! Mandy has always been stingy with her smiles.

Now, I need to interject here that the current temperatures are in the mid-high 90's. I did not envy the kids who were running this afternoon, and I was extremely upset that the people in charge were not more organized. The meet was supposed to start at 3 pm, but they didn't even get the boys started until 3:45. So, while they were getting the boys together and going over the procedures, I wandered over to let Mandy know that we were here.

Her friend, Madison, saw me coming, and Mandy pretended to not see me, and she didn't want to acknowledge my presence. I told her I was talking to her so she would know Daddy and I were there and to wish her luck. Mandy totally blew me off, "Yeah, I knew you were here. I saw the camera bag and thought, 'Oh my gosh! My mom totally stands out!'" 

Well, this made me feel very loved, so I made sure to take pictures of her eating her muffin. She laughed at me, and I walked back over to where Ken was sitting.

After about 10 more minutes, the boys were on their way, and the organizer started calling the girls over to go through the course and discuss the rules with them. Luckily, I was paying attention because the coaches for our school were not. I went and got the girls and had them get the information they needed for the meet.

Once the girls were ready, they lined up, and Mandy was right out in front. It was fun for me to watch her because I could tell that she was very nervous. Mandy has always been the shy child, and her taking part in something where she can fail in public is not her style. I'm very proud of her though because she has tried something new.

When they announced "GO!", Mandy was right out there, starting steady and strong with a huge smile on her face!

Ken and I walked over the finish area to wait for her, and we were kept waiting for a while. I didn't expect her to be one of the first girls to finish, but I thought she would have finished before she did. For a two mile run, she came across the finish line in 21 minutes. She did a bit of walking towards the end, but then she saw the finish and gave it her all.

She checked her name in for her finish, and then she near-collapsed against Ken. Well, I was going to give her the "you did your best speech" coupled with the "we're so proud of you for trying," and then Mandy told us that she had stopped for a while because her friend, Madison, had gotten sick along the way, and Mandy waited with her friend until an adult could get to her before continuing with the race.

Oh! My parental pride sky-rocketed at that point, and no wonder Mandy wasn't upset with herself! I was also very impressed when Mandy told me that she was happy with herself, and that she met her goal for this first race: not to finish last. Not only did she meet her goal, but I loved that she gave herself a goal and plans to continue to race.

Way to go Mandy!! She finished her first meet, and she will be better prepared for the next one, AND she was a very sweet and compassionate friend. Apparently, I have done something correct in parenting this child. Daddy and I are very proud of her for so many reasons!