To be dreading the "Mums" race at sports day

[comelywench]

I hated all that competitive stuff the first time around. Now I will have my DC's hopes pinned on me too, poor critters.

Better get into training now I suppose.

I'ts the one day this year I've been glad of ds2's clingon tendencies

'Oh sorry, I'd love to but he's hanging off my leg and he'll have a meltdown if I walk off. Maybe next year yeah '

Last year I narrowly avoided being brought down in the mass crash. Ours is a parents race so stupid karate dad wins every year anyway

They gave him an arsing medal last year

You're going to find 80 per cent of the mums inexplicably have a bandage on that day :o

That is NUTS re women wearing spikes. What kind of sad losers are they really?

See I don't really mind the competitiveness because there is no pressure for the rest of us to join in. There is a group of VERY sporty mums and they enjoy the fun of the sprinting so I am happy to cheer them on whilst sitting on my arse.

clemette I see what you mean but I guess it just feels a bit excluding really - and a bit annoying for me - I am quite 'sporty' but I definitely wouldn't want to 'show off' to other mums, especially in front of their kids! It's just weird. So I would end up taking part, and my dds would love to see me in the race, having a laugh, but they would probably die if they saw me jogging along (which is all I woud do in this situation), and being thrashed by some weirdo 'alpha' types who seemed to turn it into a massively important thing....

Undermine the evil competitiveness by arranging with all of the other mothers just beforehand that you will join hands and run across the line together. Thus demonstrating co-operation to your children and simultaneously avoiding losing. :)

That would be sad, but again is not the atmosphere we have. The mums who want to RACE each other do so. The rest of us choose a favourite and cheer them on. It's like horse racing . They are not showing off, just enjoying themselves.

And if anyone refuses to join your lineup and runs seriously they will look like right spoilsports.

Xpost. I was meaning that the situation outlined by wine would be sad not the holding hands. That would be fab!

Hehe, you are going to hate me: I won the parents race for the past two years at my DC's sports day!

But all the other mums were either wearing flip-flops and skinny jeans or burkas. No spikes, no running shorts.

Dear, dear! Stuff the competitiveness!

Fill up with wine or whatever alcoholic beverage is available (no wine tent!? You need one - get one organised for next year!).
Hitch up your britches, hazily focus on the blurry finish line and trot, pausing for breath as and when required.

My DS always comes last; I'd be ashamed to do anything else

So clemette - you can only take part if you are willing to see it as a serious RACE?

Maybe schools should have two races - one for people who are doing it to make their kids feel happy/laugh, and another for those people who take sport so seriously that they can't ever let it go....

Oh hang on, that would make the day too parent-focused I guess....

No, anyone can take part but mostly we are happy to leave it to the "professionals". 60 mums in the year, about 30 attend sports day, of those 30 only ten are not lazy/in burkas/with younger children/deliberaely in nappropriate footwear/other reasons to not want to join in. Those ten race each other and the rest of us cheer them on. It is full of community spirit!

There are mums' races?!?! Ye Gods, I'm doomed. I am the least sporty person on the planet. I can't even turn up in unsuitable clothes because our garden gate literally opens onto the school field and everyone knows it, so they'd just expect me to nip in and change. And loads of the mums are skinny competitive types who are forever doing drop-offs in full lycra running kit. I'll have to borrow some crutches or something.

Wine, DD (7) would be truly MORTIFIED if I stood up to race!

Are there mothers' races?! I've never seen one. I reckon I could win over 5km. Not do sure about 100m

The dad's ones are more comedic. Last year they ran with a bucket of water on their heads.

Now that's more like it - the mums races should all be like that or three-legged, or in sacks or whatever! Much more fun

No mum's races for us.

I won the female teachers' race this afternoon though

I can totally see our mums going all out. I don't think it's that pathetic. It's boring just watching the kids and nice to get a chance to join in. Plus, most of the parents have had so much wine and sun by the end of the day that they're up for anything!

We did have a parents' picnic competition though - as in, who had brought he best. The winner had a full on gazebo with trestle table groaning with homemade cakes, biscuits and salads, fancy sandwiches, cheese board and cold cuts. And lots of alcohol!

My kids got a ham roll and an apple squatting by the side of the long jump pit where I was working - bad mother alert for sure!

Flip flops- you cant run in them but get dad or uncle or someone to do the dads race.

Queen hahaha I can imagine you were felt quite humiliated at the time but it's a hilarious story!

My Mum always managed to come last in the Mums race.

It wasn't the fact that she was an older MUM (eg 37 for her 1st child in 1980.)

It was the degenerative heart disease that got her at 47.

Thinking of it now, I am SO fucking proud that she made the effort.

I can't remember how well my parents did but I know I would have been disappointed if they hadn't (probably not inconsolable though). The dads used to have to find their shoes from the pile and put them on before running and my dad wore white plimsolls specially so he could find them quickly .

Oh-I so hope there isn't one at our school this year! Last year I was nine months pregnant-have no such convincing excuse this year nor will I again