cheerleaders

I don't know how many of you pay attention to this whole March Madness thing, but I do...a little bit more than the other sports that are on TV throughout the year...which isn't nearly enough, according to my husband. 😕 For those who don't know, March Madness is college basketball in its most exciting form. A huge bracket filled with the top college teams all competing for a National Championship title. 

Now in this huge bracket, each team has its own ranking and the often throughout the competition, a number of upsets will happen - that means the underdog wins and moves on. Those are the best games to watch - the excitement of the winning underdog team is palpable through the TV! And then the yelling commences in the house, either because one of us picked out the underdog or...didn't pick the underdog! Either way: yelling! (Because when my husband and I fill out our brackets, it's usually for a friendly wager involving the buying of new shoes for me, or an hour long back rub for him. Huge stakes, here, people! The yelling is necessary!)

This whole business reminds me of raising kids. Or teaching kids. Or just interacting with kids in general. 

There are golden children. You know who they are: everything comes natural to them. Their athletic/musical/drama/debate/academic abilities shine along with their beautiful face and hair. They get along with everybody and everybody loves them.

Then there are the non-golden children: struggling to figure out their strengths, glaring weaknesses, shy, weird, non-social, or whatever they've got that makes them different from the mainstream. The underdogs, if you will (and I will because that right there pulls this whole thing all together!) 

Those underdogs need someone to cheer for them, to encourage them, to build them up and look for the amazing qualities that will hopefully someday define them. Those kiddos with the glaring weaknesses need someone to pull for them, to help them figure out how to succeed.

And when they do succeed, that is when we YELL!!! We jump up and down and express our pride in that child because they won! And unlike the college basketball teams that we just somewhat randomly pick in a bracket without any personal involvement in whether they win or lose, we actually play a part in getting these kids to succeed. THAT is something to be excited about.  

What kid do you know who needs you to cheer for him or her? 

I've got a few who come to mind...time to start cheering for them!

KC