Netball frustration

Netball today was a bit of an exercise in frustration for me. My girls played two and a half great quarters. At three quarter time they were on a roll, playing great netball, but then they couldn't keep in going in the last quarter and we lost by two measely goals.

It doesn't help that I was frustrated with Pink. She had a great third quarter but then let her emotions get the better of her and dropped her bundle a bit in the final quarter. She even had a bit of a tantrum which did NOT impress me. I was quite cross with her, and a little embarrased that my daughter behaved in that manner. I didn't get a chance to speak to her after the game because she disappeared really quickly (being a sore loser is another thing she really needs to work on!) but I'm planning on broaching the subject tomorrow. She is staying at a friends house tonight so I won't see her til then. Hopefully by then I will have come up with the right words to say. It's hard getting through to her sometimes because she takes things so personally and is very talented at twisting your words and deliberately misunderstanding you. Sigh.

I have to admit that I wasn't the most well behaved netballer in my teen years. I was so competitive and when things weren't going my way I generally let people know. I was even warned by an umpire once, and she was (and still is) a friend of mine so I must have been behaving pretty badly. I guess I can take heart in the fact that I did grow out of it, so she should too. So, considering I once suffered quite badly from the affliction known as "white line fever" (for those of you who aren't familiar it refers to a person who turns into a bit of a monster once they cross that white line and enter a sports field) I guess it was inevitable that one of my children would inherit the same temperment. Emphasis on the temper!

Robbie has no such issues. He is frustrating in a whole other way. He has the skill, but not the care factor. When it comes to football he is only doing it because that's what his mates do, he doesn't like the game at all. His father was the same. Fisherman was an extremely talented footballer who is still fit enough to be playing now, but chooses not to. He says that just because you happen to be good at something doesn't mean you have to do it. Excuse me? I would have given anything to have his talent, any victories I had with sport were hard fought and never came easy to me. But that's the way it goes sometimes. It would have been nice to get at least one child with Fishermans talent and my try but it wasn't to be.

Tomorrow is my day at golf. Both Robbie and Fisherman are talented and keen golfers. I, like Pink, do not have the temperment for golf. I am likely to break something. I will enjoy it if I can relax and just enjoy the walk. We shall see.