You have seen that
Reese Witherspoon is on my short list of
Fabulous Moms. I see her time to time, with her kids and alone. She is even prettier and sweeter in person. I saw her On
Good Morning America the other day, and she said some things that really struck me.
On being teased as a child:
“Those are sort of formative experiences. I wouldn’t want my children to miss out on any of that teasing and bullying. Don’t you think it kind of makes you who you are — when you don’t make the soccer team ... I was always really short and really underdeveloped and had big Coke bottle glasses. I think that’s where I got a personality from, man. I wouldn’t give any of it back, not a day."
On winning:
"That's the thing that drives me crazy about today: Everybody wins the award, everybody's the MVP? No! They're not, OK? I distinctly recall the two weeks of crying because I didn't make the volleyball team. But it made me interesting, you know?"
Although it is going to be tough when Landon is teased or loses out in something, and I may want to cry my eyes out for him, deep down I know
Reese is right. A bit of teasing makes you stand up for yourself and find out who you are.
I was teased for being too tall, too skinny, too anything. It really made my sense of humor go through the roof. I started being able to give hysterical come backs that made everyone laugh, thus shutting the bully's down.
This sense of humor is now the basis of my writing career and the way I look at life.The same can be said for winning and losing.
I remember that one of the most devastating moments of my life was not making the Varsity Lacrosse team. (Yes that's me in the picture above in the maroon...trying to get past that amazon girl). Here I was, a Junior in High school, with two years of Junior Varsity Lacrosse under my belt. In try outs I could not catch a thing. Turns out my lacrosse stick was cracked. Even when I tried to explain, Coach Sallinger (oh yes I remember her name), said it was too late. I was on JV.
The humiliation nearly killed me. All of my friends had made JV and I was stuck with the freshman and sophomores.
I almost quit. I was so angry at my coach I wanted to teach her a lesson. Who knew she was teaching me one.
I had become a little too "
Big for my britches" and needed to stop being a ball hog. I was no longer a team player. Being put on JV, made me realize I had to appreciate my team. I pulled the JV team together, acted as a leader, and we were victorious.
Half way through the season, coach moved me up to Varsity.When she moved me she was very complimentary about how hard I had worked and my
perseverance. I was honestly sad to leave the JV girls! We had bonded. This was when I learned to
never quit, that winning isn't everything, and that I needed to be a team player, themes that still come up even today.Maybe Landon does need to lose sometimes to find out who he is. Maybe a little teasing would do him some good. Of course I will curse out, under my breath, any little bastard who is mean to him, but first I'll see how he handles it.
Maybe it will be a defining moment in his life too.
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