Capture the Flag

It's hard to believe we just have a few days until Taylor is officially 8! 

We celebrated early today by playing Capture the Flag at the park with some friends. 

Right before the party started, Taylor was running around and he tripped. He had two cuts on his knees and some pretty badly scraped up hands, but he just came over and said, "Mom, it's okay. Really. It's just a flesh wound." 

This picture is right after he told me about the flesh wound. :) 

(I was cracking up that our almost-8-year-old was making a Monty Python reference!-- he's never seen that movie, but we've joked about it enough that he knows the humor behind it.) 

some of the first to arrive to let the games begin 

I had to dig into my mediation skills a bit today when a few of the kids felt like some of the others were not playing Capture the Flag fairly.  We played some other games (Sharks and Minnows) after working through a few tears with a couple of the kids.  I was reminded that this can be a fiercely competitive age and that some kids get really passionate about the games they play... Overall, I think it ended on a good note (but in retrospect, maybe it would have been a good idea if I had worn a referee shirt and brought a whistle!) :) 

There were a few moments when this experience reminded me so much of that time when I was in India and the activity did not go as planned.  That time and the time today gave me opportunities to regroup, reset and roll with the punches. When I wished I could have gone back in time and changed some things about these times, I have thought about how that is just my pride making a play.  I've been able to let go of that pride as I run to God's arms and receive grace and love- rough edges and all.  I remembered Taylor coming up to me at the beginning of the party with his knees all bloody and saying, "It's okay, Mom. Really.. It's just a flesh wound."  

And at the end of the day, that's how I feel too. It's just a flesh wound. :)  It's no big deal. 

Just rub it off, receive grace, and move on. 

a very kind email from my friend Elizabeth who helped me referee during the party: 

"I really do think that you did a wonderful job today. It was a challenging situation and you just kept rolling with it, changing things as needed, not getting flustered, coming back to Taylor and loving him by making him feel that he was in charge and having fun.  I think the kids will look back on it as a great time to run around with their friends. Even the tears mark intense participation.... which I think is really a good thing to experience as a kid." 

flags to celebrate the birthday boy