Sports Day 2009

Sports Day - A day that's full of fun. That's how I remember it when I was in school. I was always active in sports. My main event was the high jump. But besides competing and winning medals, I loved the thrill of cheering for my teammates and friends.

Unfortunately, my idea of sports day has changed. Now, it's a time to be roasted in the sun. This year was the second time of attending the sports day at my daughter's school. But this year, KokoD was also involved as the preschoolers also get to join in.

The preschoolers are wearing orange T-shirts. See my poor little boy roasting in the hot sun, waiting for their turn. This 'kan-cheong' mommy standing close on stand-by with big bottle of Isotonic drink and hat.

See, his hair already turning brown colour. Hahaha. Actually, his hair is naturally brown. I don't know why. But I'm sure the sun just made it more light brown.

Their sports day is stretched over 2 days - Sat and Sun. Saturday is more for the younger primary children (Special Ed. class, Preschool, Std 1-3). They have the 50m or 80m dash and also "sukaneka" (fun team games) such as balancing a ball on a spoon, throwing bean bags, filling up bottles with water etc.... Sunday is when they have the relay races.

Well, this year K is again running the 80m individual race. I told her to tell her teacher we are not available on Sunday, so no relay races for her. Definitely learned my lesson after what happened last year. Last year, her event was the last on the agenda. We waited for HOURS. In the end, there was a mix-up during the race: Her partner had taken someone elses baton. So, when K got to the pass-off point, she couldn't find who to pass the baton to. She stood there, holding the baton, looking around very confused. In the end, she just passed it to someone from another team. So all the waiting, waiting, waiting ended up in a lousy ending. I wanted K to experience the fun and thrill of Sports Day like I remember it. Unfortunately, it wasn't very thrilling for her.

Well, this year is another "fantastic" experience. The kids have been practicing for their sports day in the hot sun the entire week. Friday night, K develops a fever in the middle of the night. Saturday morning I gave her some fever medicine and told her if she don't feel any better, tell the teacher that she can't run. I kept checking on her before her event to see how she was and she said she's fine. Well, guess what happened as she was running the race? SHE FELL! The poor girl. I asked her why she fell? She said she was trying to run faster. Well, this is my little analysis: her body is already weak, so when she try to run faster her body cannot keep up. Hence, the dust eating episode. Poor girl had sand in her mouth when she crossed the finish line. Thank goodness she didn't hurt herself. So again, another lousy sports day ending for K. Well... maybe not entirely. Her team took first place in the "sukaneka" event.

"Wah, so many gold medals for me????"

KokoD on the other hand had a better outing. He ran the 50m dash and took 3rd place. Even the "sukaneka" events, there is no loser. Everybody wins a medal, even if your team was last.

Who can spot what's wrong with this picture? Look at the colour of the medals closely. KokoD is standing in 3rd place but his medal is silver. Aiyoh, lucky this is not Olympics man!

In the end, what is the result of Sports Day 2009? SICK CHILDREN!!!! The heat these days is so terrible and the kids had to roast themselves the whole week. K had fever, followed by KokoD and BabyD. Now, DH also not feeling well. What to do? Just keep giving medicine and chase them to keep drinking water. So, where's the excitement of Sports Day??? Sigh! Sadly, it is no more.

BUT, I did learn one thing.....
You can turn a chair upside down and turn it into a garbage bin! And I literally had to go back to school to learn that. Hahahaha.

Mamas Parenting Tips for Sports Day:

• Always arm yourself with 1-2 big bottles of water, hand fan, umbrella, hat and some food when you attend Sports Day. Oh, of course don't forget your camera.
• Expect to wait, wait and wait. Very rarely do these things start on time.
• Don't take toddlers or babies along. If you can, leave them home. Not only is it too hot for them, they will not have fun there.
• You don't have to confine yourself to the spectators tent. Well... not in my case. I was like a mother hen making sure my children didn't "pengsan" (faint) or something.
• Bring a book/magazine to read or something to do because you're going to be waiting, waiting, waiting. I think I cannot mention the "waiting" part enough.
• When you go home, have a goooood rest in an air-conditioned room. Aaaaaaaahhhh.