competitive? Not me.

I've often been asked "where you kids get their competitive nature?" To this I answer "oh it must be their dad" or I say "it's from spending time with an older brother."  When my kids were learning to play ball the common phrase was "catch it or eat it". (Just don't let the ball get past you.)
  Well, this last weekend I spent time with some friends, young and old. I mean, mature. Not old. After a wonderful dinner we decided to play a brisk game of spoons. For those of you who don't know how to play spoons, it reminds me a bit of musical chairs in that there is not enough spoons on the table for all participants. 4 cards are dealt to each person. The dealer starts discarding cards to their left and the cards go around the table until someone has 4 of a kind in their hand. That person then takes a spoon off the table. Each person must quickly grab a spoon and the person without is eliminated from the game.   Each round one more spoon is taken off the table.  This continues until there is only the last two and the person ending up with the spoon is the winner. Generally the by the time you get to the last two it is anticlimactic but the rounds before have hands flying everywhere! It is very exciting and noisy. Well, we played one game fairly quickly and decided to play another. It all was going rather smooth until the player next to me reached for the same spoon as me. I think he excpected me to let go. (not happening) I ended up on the floor, trying to wrangle this spoon from the young buck. Each time his hand would slip I got more determined to hold on. I started strategizing and then realized I was stratagizing about a game of spoons. Seriously? I found myself being drug across the floor. I knew his hands had to be getting tired, mine were burning and beginning to slip. His slipped. Aha! Mine! Alas though, he was stronger, younger and more determined than I .He was able to wrench the spoon from my deafeated burning  hands.  I laid face down on the floor like the Olympic loser and he held the now bent spoon up in the air in a statement of triumph.  Never had a game of spoons been so dramatic! 

So in answer to ...where do my kids get their competitive nature?  well, I prefer to look at it as a will to survive , never quit and accept that sometimes ya just gotta lose with grace. 

A memory was made that day.

And I'm pretty sure I'm on someone's camera being drug across the floor by a spoon.

great.