Wrestling rocks our house

Tomorrow is the third Saturday in a row that we're going to watch middle school wrestling. It's a whole day event and there has been significant overflow into our daily life as a result of this desire to support our son.

I learnt this morning that we are not the only house rocking with overly energetic children who are trying, in these small Japanese houses, to replicate the sports that their heads are currently into. A couple of other mums regaled me with stories of their houses rocking with mini basketball games.

Currently in our house, a wrestling bout can break out in the most inconvenient of places, like under my feet while I'm trying to get dinner on the table, or in the hallway on the way to one's room. I've had to referee a couple of bouts between our 7 and 10 y.o.s. Neither of whom has any technique or training, only hours of watching others do it.

Our guys wrestling (and doing head stands) during the
lunch break.

Interestingly enough, our 10 y.o. has a lot of trouble pinning his 7 y.o. brother, which I'm pretty happy about. That would bring greater tribulation upon our household than we already endure—with the carpet burn, the banged heads against sharp corners, and the arguments with the referee already taking up more emotional energy than I feel I possess.

One of the best part of going to a wrestling meet for my boys is the lunch break. And not because of the food. During the lunch break anyone can use the wrestling mats. That is a little boys' dream! Actually, it is a mum's dream too. There are no sharp corners out there and the mat is soft. So, for the half an hour or so between rounds, our boys go out and wrestle to their hearts' content (generally speaking, there are still the occasional emotional slights that need dealing with).

From my perspective, though, going to a wrestling meet isn't the most relaxing way to spend a weekend.

Here's one CAJ dad watching his son. You can see
how relaxed he isn't!

1. It is an hour or more drive each way. Thankfully I'm not the driver.
2. Waiting for my son to wrestling is a nerve wracking thing. And he'll wrestle probably three times over the course of the day (between 9 and 2/3).
3. I find it hard to concentrate on anything while I'm there to pass the time. At cross-country I found it easy to pull out a book and read in a quietish corner. I'm wondering about taking my cross-stitch, whether I could do that or not, I'm not sure. It would certainly look a bit of a spectacle. Who does handiwork at such a thing? But I'm not above making a spectacle of myself.
4. I'll probably be the only female in the group from CAJ. I know almost no one from other schools. I had a great time with the mum of one of the wrestlers when she came the first week, but she won't be there tomorrow.

But for now, I've got editing and other work to do to see if I can finish off the week in "the red" rather than "in the black". (I'm speaking figuratively here. As in, I'd like to finish today having attended to the urgent things that are sitting waiting for me to do. A bit of a vague concept, I know.)