How Quickly They Heal...

Jackson was cleared for sports a week ago...to his profound disappointment, he had missed too many weigh-ins in his wrestling league and therefore could not enter the District tournament.

He was, however, able to enter the internal medal round for his weight class.

He kicked butt (literally) and won it all!

(Sorry no photos - Mum was too preoccupied with preparing for the SuperBowl party to remember her camera...)

Theme Thursday - Change

My teenage son was asked to give the invocation last night at his wrestling banquet.

When he was asked to do the same last year his words went something like this, "Thank you God for food and wrestling..Amen"

Last night I watched my young man stand in front of his peers and say something like this, "Father God, you are truly awesome and powerful and you have blessed us beyond what we could ever imagine. I thank you that you brought us together as a team. That you gave us strength and friendship and that you helped us persevere through trials. Be with each one of us, this team, as we enjoy this time and your food together...In CHRIST'S name...Amen!"

Holy Cow - talk about change!!!

Here We Go Again...

Cameron is injured - again!

He twisted his knee in wrestling practice on Wednesday night - going against one of the coaches no less!

We just came home from the doctor - he thinks its a torn cartilage. Could take him out of sports for up to six weeks. Could require orthoscopic surgery. Could affect his baseball season. Could reduce his Mother to tears - oh wait...it already did that!

On the other hand - it could be a really bad strain. Just like the wrist was only kind of fractured in the fall...

I'm praying for the strain. Care to join me?!?

We All Needed Time To Recover...

It's been several days since I posted - a result of the recovery period I needed from the weekend.

Cameron participated in the EOWL (Eastern Ohio Wrestling League) championships - a marathon event that began Friday night.

He was pretty confident, as were all his coaches, that he would be wrestling into the finals on Saturday. He had pinned most of his last 12 opponents in less than a minute - he was seeded third or fourth for this event.

He soon discovered that pinning your opponents quickly is not necessarily a good thing when you then go up against the guys that have been doing this for years.

Experience prevailed...he finished fifth (out of 14). Granted, he was never pinned and only lost two matches out of six - both times by only two points! A valiant and respectable effort for a kid who's only been wrestling two years.

But our son is very hard on himself - both losses resulted in at least 20 minutes of recovery time on his part - sitting as far away from everyone as possible, with his head hanging, not daring to look up.

After a respectful waiting period, I approached him after the second loss. Looking up at my big, strong teenager and telling him how incredibly proud his father and I were - tears began pouring down his face and dripping from the tip of his nose. If he wasn't so big and strong (and in public), I'm sure he would have fallen into my arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Alas - he just kept looking down, nodding his head.

I think he heard me though. Within five minutes of returning to my seat - he was back with his team, smiling and cheering his team-mates on.

In time, he'll work through his losses on his own - but I know he'll always remember the day he was able to cry with is Mum - and it helped make everything right in his world!

The Winning Weekend

It began Saturday morning...

Caeden had his second basketball game of the season against a team from another elementary school in our district. The previous week Caeden's team had been soundly trounced by the other team from our own school - we won't say it's loaded but...how is it the same kids always end up on the same team?!


This time it was evenly matched - back and forth across the floor. A few elbows - a couple of crashes later...his team won 28-20.

Onto the next event...

Cameron had a wrestling tournament at his school. Five teams - he wrestled four times. He pinned every opponent and his team won the tournament.



Finally - Sunday...

The last day of wrestling for Jackson - the medal tournament. Basically a wrestle-off between four kids in the same weight class. Medals were awarded for each placing.

I think he's found his sport...

Report Cards and Sports

Cameron has a "C" in Social Studies. This would not be much of an issue for most families but it brought Cameron to tears when he had to tell me.

John and I have set a policy with our sons that they have to have "A's and B's" in school or THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY SPORTS!

Sound harsh? I suppose on the surface, but by way of explanation you have to understand what we're dealing with.

Cameron has been identified as gifted in every area except Math (the irony is that math is his favorite subject!) - his IQ is 143! Now I expect that is an exaggerated number but I do know he read the Dune series of books in 5th grade, so that must make him pretty smart.

When the school called me a few years ago to share Cameron's gifted designation, I said - "I think you have the wrong son"! Jackson has ALWAYS been an exceptional learner. He could take a blank map of the U.S. and tell you all the States and their captitals - in 1st GRADE! Then, of course, his spelling ability. His memory retention is astounding - I thank Aspergers for this - who would think we would ever be thankful for Aspergers?!? Of course, none of this classifies him as gifted but he's pretty damn brilliant in my eyes!

So - because of these traits, Cameron and Jackson are expected to do well in school. If they aren't, it is simply a matter of effort. Caeden, my dear sweet baby, puts in more effort in school than both of his brothers - combined - but he usually gets B's and C's. So we placed a caveat on our 'C' rule - if you've shown your best effort, we can negotiate.

Cameron did not show his best effort in Social Studies - missing assignments and not studying for tests. But here's the rub - he knew he screwed up big time. He took full responsibility. He promised he would get high honors in ALL subjects the next nine weeks (straight A's). He was in tears...

As this was the first time we had to enforce our rule, we had to step back and re-evaluate. If we told him he couldn't wrestle now - with two weeks left in the season - it would hurt his team tremendously. If we told him he couldn't play baseball, it could jeopardize his whole season on this select team. There was one sport left...Track and Field.

So here's the plan - he needs to get at least 90% in Social Studies (a high B) and all other subjects this next period, or he cannot go out for Track. He still says he's going for High Honors to prove to himself what he can do! (I'm smiling inside at this one...)

By the way - Jackson has High Honors...and Caeden? His first report card without a C! You go baby...

30 Seconds In Pictures

Cameron at yesterday's wrestling match...Total Elapsed Time: 30 seconds...


2. The Handshake


3. The Take-Down


4. The Pin

Maybe It's Just Not His Sport - Rebuttable!

Cameron had a major five school wrestling tournament today. I decided not to go as it was over an hour away and an all day event - John was the lone cheering section for our family.

It's providence that the day I don't go...and three days after I say wrestling is not his sport...HE WINS THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT FOR HIS WEIGHT CLASS!!!

But wait there's more...HE IS CHOSEN THE MVP FOR HIS SCHOOL!!!

But wait there's even more...HE RECEIVED HIS FIRST WRESTLING MEDAL!!!

I will NEVER not go to one of my son's games, tournaments or playoff games again! Practices? They're on their own...

And So It Begins...Again!

Our brief reprieve from sports is over...Here is the schedule for this Saturday...

6:30 a.m. - Cameron catches the bus for an ALL DAY wrestling tournament about an hour and a half from here

8:00 a.m. - John leaves to go to Cameron's tournament

8:30 - 10:00 a.m - Jackson has wrestling practice

9:00 a.m. - Caeden has basketball practice

10:00 a.m. - Jackson has baseball conditioning

11:00 a.m. - Jackson, Caeden and I leave for Cameron's tournament

Sometime Saturday Night - We crawl in the door and crash!

And Sunday? It begins again with Jackson's regular Sunday wrestling matches.
So much for a day of rest...This IS the sporting life...

Maybe It's Just Not His Sport...

Cameron had his first wrestling match of the year on Thursday. He was full of confidence -- twenty pounds heavier than last season, more experience. He even proclaimed that he was probably the third best on his team.

He got killed in both his matches.


An observance from the bleachers -- 20 pounds heavier means less agility. Last year he could turn himself into a pretzel to get out of holds. He was only pinned once all year. And even though they are matched by weight, he stood taller than both of his opponents which also meant he's all arms and legs while they were more compact and muscular.

Cameron is an athlete and as such he expects to excel in all sports. In baseball, football, and even track; you would have to argue that he really is one of the best in his age group. But this wrestling thing...

Needless to say, he didn't handle it very well coming off the mat. I watched helplessly as my thirteen year old boy/man struggled to contain his tears; attempting instead to look frustrated and angry. But I saw his eyes - even from a distance.

After an eternity of watching him on the bench, never lifting his head, I asked if he wanted to leave with us or wait and take the bus home. He quickly turned to me, tears pouring down his face, and just as quickly turned away, "No I'll stay and take the bus". The time he would need to stop the tears and be the man again...

He Is The Champion!

Jackson won the wrestling tournament...at least that's what he's telling all his friends! This is the latest sport he has added to his repertoire and frankly, he's pretty darn good!

Sunday was the first wrestling tournament of the season for the Spartans. Ten teams of kindergarten through 12 year olds, one gymnasium, hundreds of screaming parents..one giant headache! No joke - my head was pounding within a half hour of sitting and waiting for his three minute match; which finally happened an hour and a half later!

There are several things that make this the most annoying spectator sport, but perhaps the worst is not knowing when your child is actually on the mat, as they go by weight class. You wouldn't dare leave for a bathroom break - the entire match could be over before you even get in the stall!

I had no idea what to expect when Jackson faced his opponent. Given his Aspergers related ability to mimic what he has seen, I thought we could have WWF style moves - a clear violation of youth sports! Fortunately, his mimicking (or perhaps he really knows what he is doing...) took the form of what he had seen during Cameron's school matches last year.

So - he won both his matches and "won" the tournament! This was the cutest part...he came in the door (I couldn't survive staying and watching two matches) singing "we are the champion", displaying his match winner ribbons, and telling us "he" won the tournament.

Now let's see what happens when he loses...

The Silly Season

What does a sports family do when there are no sports to play? It's called the silly season in our home, and it's compounded this year by the fact that John is "between contracts" (that's our new venacular for saying he's out of work...)!

It's silly in every respect. Silly because Cameron just got out of his cast -- this time last year he had started wrestling and we were running him to practices at all hours. Silly because Jackson decided at the last minute that he wanted to try wrestling this year -- first match is November 25th. Silly because Caeden is doing nothing and we don't have any plans for him. And silly because we are again without work - for the seventh time in five years!

But silly is also good...we have time this weekend to spend as a family without running all over town. Time to just "be" and hang out because we have no money to do anything else!

And the silliness extends to the promise of a job -- it looks like he has an offer coming today for a year long contract, which will hopefully prompt the company that has guaranteed him a permanent position in January to bring him in early so they don't lose him! Oh yeah - and Ernst and Young called yesterday with another permanent position they want to discuss...

And me?! I had a GREAT week...two new contracts - my candidate won - and I had my first meeting last night as the Marketing and PR Chairperson for our baseball league.

Honestly 2008 will be a very good year. If we can just get through this silly season...

The Cast Off...

We have a whole boy again. Cameron's cast came off yesterday and he got a big thumbs up from the doctor.
The fracture appears to have healed enough that he no longer needs the cast but he will need a brace during strenuous activity for a few weeks. I had to chuckle when Dr. S said he might want to wear it in the halls at school with all the horseplay between classes. These kids literally have four minutes to get from one class to the next; often needing to travel from the first to the third floor. The only chance of injury is the 100 yard dash he needs to make in order not to get a tardy.
You can't hold a good man down for long. I came home from an evening meeting to find Cameron running sprints in the backyard, wearing his brace! When he came inside, he disappeared into the basement. I found him using the hand-grips, or should I say over using the hand-grips. I know exactly where his head is, baseball...pitching...all-stars! The season is only five months away!
There is a silver lining to this injury. Last year Cameron wrestled on his school team. He had never wrestled before; we had never seen a match - ever! He didn't have a clue. During several matches, when his competitive spirit would overtake his common sense, he would literally turn into a pretzel to get out of being pinned. I would cringe, expecting something to snap.
This winter, the only thing that will snap is the rubber bands he will be using on his wrist for strength training...