This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Milo
When I reflect back on my schooling there is one thing in particular that sticks out that my mum did which I will FOREVER be thankful for.
My mum wasn’t the super crafty mum or the creative play mum, she was the ‘I have 3 children and I am super busy cooking, cleaning and getting them to where they need to be’ mum.
Making friends at school was a struggle for me. I was very ummmm something. I still am not quite sure hahaha but I found it hard to make friends. I think I was a big ball of enthusiasm and kids would get overwhelmed by me quite quickly so I found myself bouncing between groups of kids as they found it easier to cope with me in small doses. It sounds harsh I know but it is what it is.
Despite my struggle making friends at school I know I always had my sports friends. My mum was the sports mum. Not the competitive, you have to win, sideline pressure mum. She was the family swimming club every Friday night cooking sausages on the BBQ mum and the Netball breakup sleepover movie watching night organiser mum.
My family was big into sport. Netball, tennis, softball, soccer, swimming and the list goes on.
I don’t know to this day why my parents chose to put so much effort into doing the sport thing with us except it kept us active, it kept us out of trouble haha, it connected us with some great friends and we had lots of family time.
Swimming was something in particular that became a part of our family. My older brother ended up making it to the Nationals in high school and I wasn’t too far behind at the State competition level.
I was always a confident kid at one level but there were many times I struggled to connect and feel accepted by my peers. One thing I had was sport. I was very good at swimming and was age champion most years during upper primary and high school. I always loved swimming carnival day. For me, it was that one day when I wasn’t the slightly weird kid; I was my grade age champion and that meant something to me.
My mum always showed up even in high school. Not many mums come to high school sports carnivals but she was there in the grandstands and I knew. She always had a treat in her bag for me at the end of the day and I knew she was watching and cheering me on and that mattered. She never cared if I won or not but just that I tried and did my best.
My mum was always there. Every regional and state championship my brother and I swam at, every netball game, every softball game and every tennis tournament she was there and this mattered to me.
As a mum to 3 kids now I want to be there. Sport mattered so much to my confidence and connection with other kids when I struggled in other areas. Maybe somehow my mum knew this (as mums do) so she made it a priority to show up and make it happen.
Sport is a great teacher and mum is a great coach. I have chosen to make it a priority to support my kids in playing sport. I believe every child can be successful at one sport or another and we as mums just need to take the time to find the sports that are right for our children.
Below is a pretty cute video of what kids think about sport 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03UbNdnIq2I&list=UUZLeBkaCMdBD–vH1C86jKQ
My middle child is absolutely in love with ice-skating. She started when she was 3 years old (crazy I know) but saying she loves it is an understatement. Recently I had baby number 3 and ice skating became a bit trickier to make happen due to timing and climate and driving.
We skipped 2 terms and did dancing instead. Miss 4 came up to me at the end of last term and said “Mum I don’t want to do dancing, I really want to do ice skating, can I please go back to ice skating?”
Miss 4 is our more sensitive kiddo. Her older sister is confident and loud and often the center of attention and Miss 4 can sometimes get lost in the mix. My mum instinct knew ice skating was a really good thing for Miss 4. She was really good at it, she loved it, she would talk about it all the time, she was so happy when she was there and I saw a spark in her I rarely see. (although she is concentrating very hard in the pic below haha)
Soooo you guessed it. Despite the effort that it takes to make that happen I have chosen to suck it up and go the distance because I know it matters to her like my mum knew it mattered to me.
We have a bit of a family tradition in our house that after an afternoon of play or sport once the kids have eaten all of their dinner they get to have a Milo. Pretty much every night haha. What I like about Milo is it is low GI and full of protein to give my kiddos energy but I can control how much goes into the cup 😉
I do have to admit I am guilty of semi regularly sneaking a spoonful or two straight into the mouth while the kids are not watching lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtb6N3yxDtg&list=UUZLeBkaCMdBD–vH1C86jKQ
Written By Sam Shazzam AKA School Mum
