The thrill of victory...the agony of defeat...the human drama of athletic competition...all at the local Park District Triathlon...

Last weekend the girls participated in a triathlon for kids. There were 3 age categories - 6-8, 9-11, and 12-14. Awards were given for each age category and separated into boy winner and girl winner. Mary got first place in her age group for girls. Morgan placed third in her age group for girls. All first and second place finishers received a plaque and their picture in the paper. Mary Grace couldn't have been happier! Finally the second born syndrome was broken! She felt so good to actually accomplish something without having to stand in her big sister's shadow! Morgan felt horrible. Not because of Mary's success. But, rather because (being the typical first born perfectionist that she is) she felt like she had failed. To be fair the competition in her age bracket was much more intense and was just simply larger (more kids participated in the 9-11 group than any other). Tim and I were so proud of both of them for just finishing and not giving up (as some kids did). One thing to be said of my kiddos - they're not quitters and we've taught them to always give it their all - 100%! Boy oh boy did they! It was a great experience and Tim and I have decided to make it a family tradition to have the kids participate EVERY year. Of course Tim and dad IMMEDIATELY started strategizing and planning for next year. "we need to really train...we'll need to get bigger bikes...work on the transition from pool to bike to make it more efficient...etc." Tim was gleeful to say the least every time he'd see either Morgan or Mary Grace pass up another child! He'd say "Did you see that? Mary came from behind ... Morgan came from behind and now she's ahead..." "Get 'em Morgan... get 'em Mary..." You think we might be a tad bit of a competitive family? Anyhow, it was lots of fun and MANY lessons were learned. That's the great thing about athletic competition - it teaches so many important character building and virtue strengthening lessons. That, and it makes mom and dad feel REAL PROUD!