Competition: The double-edged sword

After a long hiatus, I am back to my writing ways, at least to post a few thoughts and experiences in the recent past.

A few weeks back, the girls started their skating lessons. As is to be expected, there was the usual stumbling process, literally. They seemed to get a hang of it after a few sessions, no Katarina Witts, but at least looked comfortable walking around on wheels. In due course, it was evident that Manasi was the faster learner and this prompted the instructor to split up the stuck-like-glue girls. Of course, Manasi didn't see this as a reward, but as a punishment, being separated from her sister. She created quite the scene, crying and protesting the unfair divide.

The next class, my girl got really smart, but not in a way we wanted. She started skating slow and kept pace with her sister just so they won't be separated!

As a parent, it's a very tough situation. While we are obviously happy about the bond they share, it's sad to see our babies perform less than their best just so the other can keep up. That's what seems to happen a lot nowadays. When one cannot do well somewhere, the other slows down automatically. It's too early to tell them that each one needs to do their best in everything one does and not everyone can do well in everything.

I'm sure we will encounter more situations like this as they grow up and I only hope they learn to feed off each other's strengths and do the best they can in whatever they do. I don't want them to become less competitive so their achievements are always cumulative but individually mediocre. We'll see...