Thinking Allowed: Racing to the top

I like rock climbing because it is a very relaxed sport that also involves problem solving. By relaxed I don't mean climbers don't take themselves and their sport seriously - they do - but that they don't impose a lot of rules on other climbers and are really about giving individuals the tools to figure it out for themselves. At their gymnastics class, the girls are always being told to put their hands in a precise way, straighten their legs, suck their tummies in, go to the bars, swing three times, and on and on. At climbing the instructors let them choose whatever wall they want to take on and only offer up advice if it might help. I also like that my four year old all of a sudden has biceps and can shimmy up door frames but those are just added bonuses. While it is a laid-back sport, the truth is that like most other sports it is competitive. This past weekend our local climbing gym hosted a bouldering competition.

While technically the youngest age category is nine years old the gym decided to create its own category for nine and younger so that the younger kids could get to see what it is like to compete. Surprisingly, Aurora, who generally shies away from any sort of performance or competition, was enthused and eager to join. Sophia wasn't sure but her instructors were very encouraging and she decided that she needed to be a part of the competition too. I figured it would be a good experience for them to get to be part of a competition and to do something that neither was very comfortable doing. It was really an experience for all of us. The gym was packed with eager limber young people. Each climber had to try to succeed at 7 routes. They had as many tries as they needed but each successive try earned fewer points. It was both really fun and independent (nothing like the gymnastics competitions of my youth) and chaotic. Aurora and her friend Sophie blasted through the climbs, getting all of them in one or two tries. I was quite impressed at what they could do and have no trouble admitting that I wouldn't have been as successful. Sophia, by far the youngest competitor in the nine and under category, was really at a disadvantage due to her height. Nonetheless, she persevered and tried again and again and again without losing heart. She managed to get halfway up all seven and all they way up one and was overjoyed. I was really proud of both of them.

Both children were relieved at the end of the competition to find out that instead of adding up the scores and declaring a winner, they would all just receive bags full of candy (this is what I mean by laid back). Way better than a medal in their minds, they collapsed into the car and quietly ate their prizes before their parents noticed how much they had eaten.

So it has been a week of successful competition for this family. Tova and I are the only ones who have remained pacifist in the background.