The thrill of defeat
How could this be? How could anyone not want to watch the Olympics? I explained to them that we could see figuring skating, where someone could wipe out at any moment; ice hockey, where you might just catch a fight, and the luge, which is so dangerous someone could easily die. They weren’t impressed, and I know why.
Back in the day when I started watching the Olympics, there wasn’t much else on TV. It was about the most exciting thing going. Nowadays, kids can watch whatever they want, whenever they want to. Lately Lilly has been watching back episodes of “Dance Moms” On Demand. You don’t get that kind of drama on the Olympics. “Dance Moms” makes watching one skier after another head down the same hill for hours on end just slightly hum drum.
Needless to say, I won out last weekend. I built a fire cozy enough to entice the whole family, and we turned on the Olympics both Saturday and Sunday evenings. (It was actually a rare sports’ free weekend in our house, so we were home both nights). And the kids became half interested. Jonah and Adam spent the other half of the time playing games on their electronic devices, Lilly was doing something on her iPod and Maggie was Snap Chatting with a friend who thought ice skating was a complete waste of time.
But they watched it. And Monday night, when I had work to do, I heard the telltale sounds of Olympic competition coming from the TV in the family room. True, they were flipping back and forth between that and something else, but they were half watching. There was an inkling of Olympic interest growing.
So now we’ve all agreed that “Catching Fire” can wait two weeks. I bet they’ll miss it when it’s over.
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FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Magazine editor Betsy Stein who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 14, Lilly, 13, Adam, 13, and Jonah, 9.
