A couple of Stories

Well, I told you a little bit about the Cross Country on Tuesday but there's more.
Before going to a school event I often mourn the loss of "me time". I tend to think that I would rather spend my day off shopping or reading or lunching or some other thing but when I arrive and put on my right attitude it's just a joy.
The kids have a special energy......
There is a boy, a friend of Dimples', who always catches my eye and says "Hello Kylie". He grins with his crooked teeth and his eyes crinkle up. It amazes me every time: he is doing his thing with his mates or, in this case, running a race, I am often lost in my thoughts or just don't see him because kids in school uniform start to look all the same but there he is, popping up to say G'day. To me. To a kid of eight or nine I must be ancient and probably boring and he's spent enough time at our place to know I can be cranky but he seeks me out each time. Wonderful.

I was watching and "officiating" races for two hours on Tuesday. I sat by myself on an isolated section of the course and it wasn't boring for a moment. It was interesting to me that the boys would be running along with plenty of room but they would still jostle and jockey for position. The girls would run in twos or threes and chat or stop to wait while someone fixed their hair. At one point I heard an older girl say to her group "We'll jog to the hill and then walk...". Not very competitive but typically female in her co-operative approach.

A group of girls brought tea and coffee around for parents and teachers. They had a big basket of muffins and I told them tongue-in-cheek that they should bring me the left overs. About twenty minutes later I heard a girl saying "Why are you going over there?" the reply: "I'm taking these to the lady, she said she wants more" That was just precious.

I'll never remember half of the things that I've seen and heard in schoolyards and sporting events but I think they'll make a soup of warm and funny memories.