Today was family day at my husband's company. They brought the families of the entire team to Kidzoona in Venice Piazza. My daughter has been looking forward to this ever since we told her about the event. Although it was a fun day spent with my husband's co-workers, it was a bit too exhausting. I think my social battery needs a whole month to recharge after all the social interactions I did for the last few weeks.
Anyway, an interesting thing happened while we were at the play place. Kidzoona organized an event of fun and games for the children. My kid, being who she is, wanted to win at every game. She would raise her hand as fast as she could, would shout out the answer louder than everyone else, she just wants to wipe out the entire competition.
Then, there was a game where the host involved the parents. I don't know if my husband has gotten good at hiding for stuff like these or if he was just too busy talking to the bosses, my daughter literally dragged me from my seat so I could join her to compete in that game. The host then announced it was a game of bring me. My hand holding my bag, my daughter eyed me as if telling me to be ready for whichever item the host is looking for.
It just so happened that there were older kids that were far quicker than her, she couldn't get the chance to be the first to run to the emcee. I can see she was getting teary eyed, the face paint around her eyes was already running. She was in the zone and she really wanted so badly to win. I knew there will be tears afterwards.
Sure enough, there was. Oh, my competitive little person. I had to pull her out of the area and have her sit down to relax. To be fair, she has already won an award. She just wants to win some more. Oh, my heart. She needed to calm down a little bit because her energy was so high, it would burst out of her. We had a little talk.
I reminded her that we went there for only one reason. To have fun. That's her sole purpose for that event. She could meet new friends, talk to Tatay's workmates and bosses, play with other kids, all if it would bring her joy. Clearly, her competitiveness was taking away that joy. I certainly know how that feels. Back in the day, I also used to be that kid who always wants to get the "very good" comment of the grown ups. And it does suck if I don't get the medal, or the award, or the recognition.
So I had her sit down for a few minutes. We just had a little talk about being too competitive and how her focus should only be at having fun. We waited for quite a long time - 10 minutes maybe for her to calm down. The games were still on, they were playing another game. I asked her if she would want to join in again. When she said she does not want to play for the prizes anymore and that she just wants to enjoy the slide and the trampoline, I let her be. After a few jumps and a few rounds at the slide, her sour mood was subsided. The games were also over and all the kids can now enjoy free play.
I could have just told my husband that we're going home after that tearful incident at the bring me game. I'm glad I did not react that way. I myself needed to calm down because the noise and the chaos, along with her tearful reaction at the games was stressing me out already. I'm glad we stayed on until the event was over. We got to meet my husband's bosses, had a little chat, my daughter showed them her boxing moves, everything turned out fine for all of us.
We had a little detour to another mini playdate with my daughter's friend and when we got home, we were all exhausted but we all had fun. How about you? How do you deal with your kids when things get a little bit too competitive?
