Surviving Sports Day

Another rite of passage for Isabel today - her first school Sports Day. Well, Sports Morning to be more accurate - the excitement started at 9.30am and continued all the way through to lunchtime. It was well organised, I'll give them that, and it had to be given that there were 84 races. Yes, you read that right, I did say 84. My heart sank when I saw the list, but things moved along reasonably quickly. The weather was more problematic - occasional bursts of sun but accompanied by increasing amounts of dangerously dark clouds, which by Race 80 decided they'd been pretty kind to us, and started to chuck rain down on us. Luckily Ems was asleep in her buggy under her rain cover.

Sports Day is the kind of school event that kids either love or loathe I think. Isabel seemed to have a great time although there was some confusion as to which house she was representing. She was in two races - a 30m sprint (in which she came third out of about six or seven kids), and a race involving hula hoops and bean bags which she won - much excitement! None of the reception class seemed too bothered about winning and losing, which probably added to their enjoyment - some of the older ones like they were taking things far more seriously. The parents were too, naturally, which is probably why there was no parents' race! There were a couple of lessons to be learnt for next year though, and I am recording them here so that next year I can check back and remind myself!

1. Wear layers. Lots of layers. I had a t-shirt and a cardie on, and I was freezing. So cold, in fact, that I had a hot bath when I got home after lunch!
2. Get there early so as to claim front row seat.
3. If raining, ditch the event around Race 80 so as to claim a picnic table under the covered area for lunch!
4. If unable to claim table, get good place under a tree for shelter from either rain or sun.
5. Slip liberal slug of vodka into an innocent looking bottle of coke. But remember which one, sending a half-cut small child back into school for the afternoon would probably not be a good plan!

Ready for the off (Isabel on far left with red band and pink hat)

Crossing the finish line ahead of the competition!