Over Achieving Kids vs Pushy Parents

The National Spelling Bee was on TV last night. No I didn't watch it, I read about it this morning on the news. The winner was a 13-year old girl who said after winning that, "Spelling has been such a big part of my life." I guess she was happy by looking at the photos of her lifting the trophy, but I am not so sure.

This was her fourth and final try to win the spelling bee. Now she is too old and must move on to other obscure contests where freaky home-schooled children with no social skills compete to validate their parents sense of worth. The previous years she finished 10th, 8th, and 4th respectively, which is darn impressive if you ask me, but no, it was her competitive nature that kept her coming back according to her father. "The competitiveness is in her," her father Mirle Shivashankar said. "But she doesn't show that. She still has that smile. That's her quality." Really, or is it the only time she can be happy is when she performs to make you proud?

I am happier to have a "pound" in the backyard instead of a pond, and whatever word Delaney misspelled the other day that made me laugh will be remembered long after we forget that a 13-year old girl spelled "Laodicean" to win the spelling bee. The Spelling bee used to be about kids having fun, now it is a prime time drama with favorites and new-comers. The only things that are missing are the odds-makers and betting that we see at the Kentucky Derby. There was even the type cast anti-hero, Kennyi Aouad of Terre Haute, Ind., The nearsighted boy would think aloud, scratch his chin and sometimes put on glasses so he could see the pronouncer's lips. After spelling a word correctly, he would strut to his seat, point to supporters and mug for the camera.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_spelling_bee

For me, I hope my children are happy, spend time learning, reading, playing, making friends and looking at the clouds. If they turn out to be a great baseball player, brain surgeon, or Academy Award actor, I hope they do it because it makes them happy, not because I am pushing them win or fail.