A huge lesson

On our way to meet a friend, T and I stopped over at a playground to play. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when this lady and her daughter walked in and instantly some "Mompetition" ensued. For those who are not in the know, the urban dictionary defines "Mompetition" as the one-up rivalry Mums (who are seen as primary givers) play in order to make their children seem better, smarter, and/or more advanced than your child. Anyway back to this lady and her daughter: everything T did, the little girl with mum urging her on did. She was faster taking turns on the slide and was happy to shout about it with mum applauding, and when they played on the carousel she had a good laugh about how terrified T was and how she wasn't when it was spinning really fast. We went on the swing and there she was on the next swing. T started to sing and of course so did she, only louder. When T asked to go higher, she also requested that her mum pushed her higher. Mum of course pushed so hard I thought her daughter might fall out of the swing at any minute. Wanting to shake the irritating duo off, T and I headed to the jungle gym in a different part of the playground but to our annoyance they weren't too far behind. The jungle gym had different levels of difficulty so I followed T and kept instructing him to hold on and pay attention as he made his way along. Little Miss duplicator soon caught up of course, I mean she is only about year or two older and as a result was quicker. I watched as she shoved T out of the way, raced past him, completed the course and then embarked on it again. Moments later she reached a portion of the course that involved crossing via a narrow piece of rectangular wooden log. Intent on catching up with T again so she could show him up, she was going quite fast and was looking right ahead at us instead of at the obstacle in front of her. Suddenly she tripped and fell. She let out a loud painful scream as she landed hard on the wooden log and was only saved from falling off completely by the safety ropes that were tied into a mesh on both sides of the wooden log. I could only watch in horror as Mum came to her aid clearly distressed and filled with pity. She picked her up and they both walked off nursing her bruised elbow and ego. When I saw them leaving the park, I was tempted to run after them and ask if the daughter was alright but I had my own child who was still on the jungle gym to look after plus I had just won a game of "Mompetition" so I just looked on and hoped both mother and child had learned their lesson.

When T grows older, I will tell him this story and the moral of it being worry less about what others are doing and focus on what you are doing for you could end up loosing all that you have worked hard for trying to keep up with others if you do not keep up with your own self.