Sports Day

The excitement began almost a month ago, when I received a circular announcing the school's annual sports meet in December. We blocked the date on our calendars instantly. The next circular was about practice sessions in school and how we should send the kids dressed in comfortable pants and sports shoes - with Velcro only and strictly no laces. :) I was more excited than anyone else. Of course Tiny had no clue what was going on. He just went about with his activities as usual. I made sure he didn't miss a single day of school and we played in the park every evening. 

One evening at the park I noticed him running neatly in a straight line on the tiled jogging path and figured that he'd actually been observing and absorbing things taught at school! He kept screaming 'school, Amma, school' as he ran. :)

The day came close. My parents came all the way from Bombay and made sure they stayed back for the event. The event originally to be held on a Saturday afternoon, was rescheduled for a weekday afternoon..which is really sad as most of the working parents would find it difficult to take time off. 

On the day of the event, Tiny fell asleep just an hour before we were to leave home. He woke up with a nasty temper and I wasn't sure if he would even want to participate. The moment we reached the venue, he saw some of his friends and just ran away..and got busy playing with them. This was the first time I was watching Tiny with his friends...he's such a big boy already. All the children were asked to assemble in some  room to get them ready for the events. The parents escorted the kids till the room and waited there...I got up to hold Tiny's hand and take him and he calmly said 'naan hothoni' (i'll go on my own) waved to me and scampered across the grounds to go to his teachers! I was really amazed at how independent he's growing up to be. And within minutes, the events started. 

Little children dressed in green walked out, led by a band. They were all over the place. Running towards any familiar faces they could see in tHe audience. Some refusing to walk. Some still sleepy.
 But they were all marching. Little green soldiers. All the parents eagerly searching for their little kids in the army. Mine was with his group right at the end. Doing his own thing. Looking everywhere. Walking only when he felt like it. :) I really couldn't stop cheering them.

The first event was the one with Tiny's group. They had to place blocks like a wall, place a roof and a solar panel on it. It was a relay of sorts and there were three groups of 3 kids each. Tiny was the second in his group and the first child in his group was in a bad mood and was crying and just didn't want to play. The teacher walked the kid to the blocks and helped him place a block but the child refused and ran away to his parents. Tiny took the cue and ran to the blocks, quickly placed them all in 2 rows, placed the roof and placed the solar panel also, all the while with the teacher telling him to stop and leave something for the next child to do! As he ran towards the finish line, he saw S sitting int he front row. He promptly changed course and ran into S's arms. His part in the sports day was
 over and he'd done it well. I. Was soooooo proud! The rest of the afternoon was fun and I was really amazed at how such young kids were following complex instructions so well. They even had a little
 race for the parents at the end and my son was cheering for me from the stands. He's such a sport. 

Then came the moment where he had to go up on the stage to collect his 'Gold Medal'! :D He thanked the chief guest politely and went on to receive his certificate and then said 'Amma a agoytu, hogona manège' (it's over Amma, shall we go home now?)! The day was over! Here's the certificate. More pics of the sports day coming up soon.