Thursday 26 May 2011

The competitive one

I can only do scribbles, Mum...

My little Goosey is determined. She's patient and never gives up. She punches well above her weight in most things. It's not unusual to see her racing her scooter at the park with the 7-year-old boys, she's just 2 (almost 3). She'll sit and do a puzzle and won't quit until she's mastered it. She has to do everything her sister does and she has to do it better. She often utters: "Me first!" "I do it!" "I win!"

More often than not, Lil-lil, who's not competitive at all, just shakes her head and says: "Oh Goosey!".

I often just want to grab Goose and tell her: "It's OK, you're only 2, you don't have to do EVERYTHING." But she's only 2, so well, you know. Plus she's so determined it wouldn't matter.

At the moment, Lil-lil is obsessed with drawing. She spends hours drawing away. Goosey, wanting to be like her big sister, sits and draws with her but it inevitably ends in tears. "I can't draw rainbows, butterflies, flowers or princesses," she sobs. "I can only draw scribbles."

No matter how much I console her and tell I love her drawings and that one day she'll be able to draw like Lil-lil, it doesn't help. I think Lil-li is secretly please that she has her 'thing', the one thing that she can do that is all hers (that and being able to turn on the light switch).

In the meantime, we'll have to deal with the sobs and Goosey's death-defying climbs in an attempt to turn on the light.

Are you competitive? Are your kids competitive? How do you cope?

5 comments:

  1. Daisy is FIERCELY competitive and scares the bejesus out of me. So much pressure, so much drama ALL THE TIME. I fear Harper may be the same. Shame Rob and I are exactly the same...I wonder where they get it from.

    Just these past few weeks I have started to understand your pain...the fighting, the tantrums, then the best of friends all over again.

    Let the games begin hey?!

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  2. Elena is competitive - with herself! It's exhausting to watch her try, not quite get it, try again to improve, still not quite right, throw a full screaming tanty over the 'failure' as such and then get herself together to try again.
    And god forbid if you try to help - you're likely to lose a limb!
    When she has a sibling I'm mildly terrified of the potentially explosive competitiveness between them.

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  3. This is cute Corinne. Poor little Goosey, she'll definitely get there and then some, I'm sure.
    We have a major competitor in Angus, it's a little on the scary side actually. He takes after his dad for sure. I like to do things well, but I'm not about to get caught up in the fierce competitive stakes, I just can't be bothered.
    I think Felix will be competitive also, he is still young, but boy, does he like to match it with his big bro.
    Hold onto your hats! ;o)

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  4. My little Noodle of a girl was just outside trying to arm wrestle and out run a boy in the neighborhood who is in MIDDLE SCHOOL. Like 4 years older than her.
    When she came in sobbing and yelling that she inevitably lost, I tried to explain that he is much bigger than her and could easily outrun her. Not to mention that he is obviously stronger than her too.
    She wailed and wailed that she is faster and stronger than almost everybody and still couldn't understand why she lost.
    So yeah.
    I'd say so. ;)

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  5. Master P isn't particularly competitive. He seems content to do whatever whenever and I think he follows in our footsteps in that regard. It's not like we're not determined people, but most of the time I'll happily let someone else do the competing! I think P is the same. However, P is always looking up to the older kids to see which tricks and ideas he can pinch!

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