Sore Loser

Bilaal has a very competitive spirit, I guess he gets it from both his parents. But one thing I cannot stand is that he is such a sore loser. I have been trying to foster in him a sense of good sportmanship, but to no avail thus far. Now I hear you saying, ag but all kids are like that. True, but not to the levels Bilaal takes it. I am just afraid that if we don't nip this behaviour in the bud early he is going to grow up to be be one of the John McEnroe's of the world. That he is going to be that boy that gets excluded from team games because he saps the fun out of it with his sore loser behaviour.

What starts off as a fun game of snakes and ladders or ludo or momopoly, hardly a game you play for recognition or achievement, just some silly fun... and it ends up being a game of tantrums or tears or aurguing and nobody having any fun. So what will happen if it's real competition like a sport?

SO with the Bafana vs France game I saw an opportunity for some life lessons to be imparted! I described to him how Bafana had a very slim chance of getting through to the next round, even if they won the match and how the whole country was disappointed. I asked him how he would feel if he was one of the team and of course he said he would be very angry. So I explained to him that the players probably feel the same, yet they are going to go out onto the field and play the best game they can and still put all their hearts into it. I explained that even though they let us down, we still need to show our support, because that's what true support is... sticking with your team even during the bad times. Then I Bafana to the French team. I explained to him how poorly the French behaved after they failed to win their previous matches, that they had taken out their frustrations on each other and how disgraced the French nation are by their team.

Then I asked Bilaal, now do you want to be like the Bafana players who still have the pride and support of their country, or do you want to be like the French team who everybody is talking badly about and whose own countrymen are ashamed of them. And of course he said he wanted to be like Bafana. Fortunately the game yielded a win from Bafana and the French coach played into my little life lesson by displaying true unsportsman like behaviour by refusing to shake out coache's hand! I said to Bilaal again, 'you see, Bafana did their best and won the match. And even though this is the end of the competition for them, at least they can say they can be proud that they left the competition with dignity.'

So now everytime Bilaal starts trying to cheat in a game or throws a tantrum when you go up a ladder and land far ahead of him, I can remind him again that he wants to be a Bafana not a French!