ding ding ding!

today, in the local elementary school children were chanting. they were gathered, piled almost, one on top of the other with faces pressed against the glass windows of the coaches office in the school gym (looking from the outside in). there was energy and excitement. rather than privately, quietly hoping for a particular winner, their hope was bursting from them as they shouted in unison the favored opponent's name.

inside the office were 3 coaches who proudly organized such an event. and two children nervous, anxious, excited, and pumped up by the energy. the coaches were explaining the rules, expectations, and such. and the children were listening closely as they recognized the magnitude of such an event. they had been working on this for days, and the final match culminated into this moment.

on cue, the two followed by the coaches emerged from the office into the crowd with eyes focused on the mat in the middle of the gym. they laid their bodies onto the mat, each facing the other. their right arms stood up at their elbows, their hands clasped, and they waited for the sounding GO! that would begin this highly anticipated moment.

the chanting grew louder and more intense. the two children were straining to slam the others hand onto the mat. yes friends, this was a good ol fashion arm wrestle. there was some struggle admittedly (these two had beat all other children in the previous matches). BAM! a winner! the crowd went wild and my cute boy stood to shake the hand of his opponent. he won.

this was no simple match, you see. this match solidified his position as the greatest arm wrestler...the champion...of his school.

dare another student to challenge him? a younger student even? yep, it happened.

later in the day coach got alec out of class to confront a challenge offered by a 4th grader. he accepted (with a little smirk likely). he walked into the gym full of 4th graders, laid on the mat, watched as his own arm began to bend the wrong direction, steadied it, and taught that 4th grader a lesson. at which point he got up shook his hand and told him good job, and did a "cool kid" walk back to class.

today was monumental for that boy of mine.

happy friday.

oh and since i happen to know the winner quite well, i was privy to the play by play of emotions and such. he said it was like a concert...he had his own little rock star moment as everyone chanted his name in hopes that he would win. shouldn't everyone have that moment sometime in their life?