Competitive Nature
Boys and Men and the bliss of competing
The gloating moment
While in Corona Beach in our family vacation, I learned a great deal about the family, fishing and something about the nature of boys and men… the competitive nature.
Breakfast the second day
The Boys
On our first day in Corona Beach we opted to go to a local taco shop. I know my older old Rockford is a picky eater, but we still bought him and the younger one, Rocco, each a cheese and bean quesadilla. Rocco waisted no time digging into his breakfast, but Rockford, we anticipated, would not budge. Rockford can eat the same breakfast for days, sausages or wieners. I tried to get him to eat by pleading and bribing him to no avail. Suddenly, clever Daddy suggested to Rockford, “Hey Rockford, Rocco is going to beat you eating your breakfast!” This immediately struck a chord with Rockford. He quickly said, “No he’s not!” He allowed Daddy to help him with his quesadilla and started eating his breakfast. What I brilliant idea Daddy, I thought. I should have known to tap into that innate competitive nature of his.
At home as we are casually walking up stairs, Rockford manuevers his way around us to fly upstairs only to meet us with an, “I Win! I Win!” When we are at the park he goes up to kids he’s never met before and says, “Let’s race!” Before the kids can even agree to it, he has already taken off and celebrating, “I Win! I Win!” After he finishes his dinner, and nobody is keeping score, he brings me his plate and says, “I’m all done! I win!” …So naturally, making breakfast a competition was a sure thing to get him to eat his meal. Good job Daddy.
He did end up eating his quesadilla slightly before Rocco did and made sure we knew it and celebrated with him. This was the case for the next two days as we up the ante by offering a pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) to the winner. This was a little fun, but had to keep reminding Rockford to chew his food before swallowing.
The Men
Fishing is like any other sport, you wait for something to happen, there are moments of intensity and there is a winner with bragging rights. On our first night, my husband, Rocky, fished for hours to no avail. As he sat there watching his uncle and a neighboring camper catch fish after fish, he became a little disillusioned. Oh the glory that came to that neighbor camper by all the onlookers. He proudly and nonchalantly threw back the fish he caught…after all, it’s just a sport and he is just does it for fun. After a while (and four fish) the neighbor retracted back home. Next was Uncle Eddie and his catch that was also greeted by the endless excitement and cheers of onlookers.
Needless to say, those who caught this night left the beach with their heads held a little higher, while those who caught nothing left with their egos a little crushed. Such was the case for Rocky.
The second night brought a little more promise to my husband as he put in his hours and did catch three hardy fish. I don’t know the logistics of fish or their actual names, all I know is that when the tip of rod starts moving it’s a good sign. This makes me happy because I start thinking of meals I can make. This makes my husband happy because he starts feeling better about himself and the love of fishing. He too was greeting with excitement and cheer by all the onlookers…including myself.
Proud moment
On our final day there, he caught the biggest fish he’s caught to date, a Corbina. I know this name because he made sure I knew the size of the biggest Corbina caught to date (he Googled it) and how it is almost the size he caught this day. Apparently in fishing, size matters. What a way to end our vacation on a high for my husband. However, we were there at the beach all by ourselves with no onlookers. Who would he show this off to? How would he brag about this? Where was the recognition and praise? It’s like hitting a home run with no fans watching, like doing a good deed at home and the wife not being there to take notice, or like putting a tip in the tipping cup and the Barista not even witness it. It just wasn’t the same. Well, just as we are getting ready to leave, his dad, uncle and the rest of his family we were camping with showed up. He told them about his Big Catch. Good thing his wife took pictures of it because he was showing off these pictures to the men who were, let’s say, a little skeptical of Rocky’s size description. Their reply after viewing the pictures? “Did you Photoshop that?” With a big smile on his face Rocky whispered to me, “that’s the way of acknowledging it was a big fish”. Why can’t they just say, “Wow look at that! You caught a big fish!” I thought. Why? because that’s the silly competitive nature of men.
So I guess some things will not change for my boys. They will be competitive when they are men too. Well, at least I am learning the perks of their competitive nature and their way of communicating in such settings. I know God made them this way for a reason and I’m ok with that. I’ll embrace it…and use it effectively 😉
Great to be back home in San Diego. Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 of Corona Beach postings.
Have a Wonderful Wednesday and Blessings to you!
Related articles
- Inspiration for family beach camping trip (trainingupmyboys.wordpress.com)
- Lessons learned at Lo Jolla Tide Pools (part 2) (trainingupmyboys.wordpress.com)
Training Up My Boys 
I’m glad all of you had a great trip!
Nancy
http://www.workingmomadventures.com
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