We're ALL Winners!

Cameron has always been a caring boy. Besides having a small territorial anxiety over toys he's playing with, his sweetness towards his friends and people in general has always amazed me. He's full of kisses and hugs for everyone, even people he's met for the first time. He's constantly encouraging his brother and, on more than one occasion, I've opened my eyes in the earliness of morning to find my sweet boy stroking my head and whispering "you're so precious to me, mom". Yes, sometimes it can get borderline corny, but I wouldn't change that about him for the WORLD!

However....

Over the past couple of years, I've realized that my sweet boy has a MAJOR issue with competition. I'm not sure where it came from, but oh my, I think I've created a monster!!

I only noticed his competitiveness (or lack of it?) in small, subtle ways until 3 weeks ago, when we were at the beach with our friends, the Spruills. I know I already posted our wonderful family beach pictures, but there was ONE picture I intentionally omitted from my post or ANY other Faiai memory collection!!

Exhibit "A":

hmmm... what do we have here? Kai boy is just strolling along, and Cameron is...oh no...did he step on a sea shell and hurt his foot?!

I WISH that were the case! And that's what I probably would have told you, had there not been 5 other people around watching what had just taken place!

The boy got his little Samoan butt BEAT in a race against his friends Kai and Kalia. "Ready, set, GO!" The three of them dashed full speed ahead about 20 feet to where we were standing. After 10 of those feet Cameron had collapsed to the ground crying because Kai and Kalia pulled ahead of him. I scolded him for a while and he was back to playing nicely after his few minutes of agony and defeat. Well...the incident happened about 3 more times on that same trip. We talked to him about it on the way home, because we knew it was an issue that he needed to deal with now (I'm just not sure if it would suit his later NFL career!).

Since we got home from the beach, we've kind of been helping Cameron out in this area, trying to put him in situations where he can learn and improve from his weaknesses instead of getting upset and giving up because of them.

This week, Steve bought the boys a child size basketball hoop. For the past week, both Cameron and Riley have been making up their own type of basketball games, throwing a basketball at different targets in the house. So we decided that their chances of playing in the NCAA Tournament together in 2025 would be greatly increased if we promoted their desire to play hoops in the house.

As soon as I set the hoop up, I let Cameron shoot a few free throws. He would take turns with his brother, and even gave the ball to me saying "we all get turns, we're all sharing!" After a few more shots and showing him proper form, it was time to put a little pressure on, so I started boxing him out and blocking his shots. Wouldn't you know it...the boy CRUMBLES to the ground in tears. I yelled at him to "GET UP" and "get the rebound", but he didn't hear it. He just RAN into his room and cried and cried and cried!!! After a short pep talk (actually, it was kind of long), Cameron came out of the room to play again. I decided to take it easy and just let him work on his shot. After each shot, he'd hand me the ball and in his most cheerful voice say "Now it's your turn, mom!" I, of course took my shots from 10 feet back in the kitchen, and when I'd miss, Cameron was quick to get the ball for me and say "It's ok, mom you're doing really good. Just try again!" He'd give me the ball back try after try after try before he ever asked for a turn! I started making some sweet shots from behind the couch and across the dining room table. It was pretty incredible! As I just kept swishing them Cameron just kept getting the ball for me and cheering "Wow mom, you're the BEST basketball player in the world! Do it again!" After a few more incredible sinks, I sat down for a breather and told Cameron to keep practicing...and he did. He even made one in over my shoulder that I was trying to block! When that happened, I responded "Oh MAN! Good job Cameron, you're the WINNER!!" Thinking this would greatly encourage my boy, I ran over to give him a hug...and that's when he said "You're the winner too, mom! We're all winners!!! Yeah for both of us!!"

I'm definitely learning that I need to be way more encouraging to Cameron. But, on the flip side of that... if he can't ever grasp the fact that it's OK to lose, I have bad feeling that his chances in playing for the San Diego Padres in 2022 are going to be greatly diminished as a direct result of his lack of sportsmanship!

as for now, "We're ALL Winners!"


Even Riley boy!