Sitting in the Audience

The spelling bee is hard to watch on television when one is not vested in any of the children.  I get nervous when the word is announced, feel for the kids as they ask for an alternate pronunciation, the language of origin, and use in a sentence. Then, when the child answers incorrectly, we all sigh and hurt for the speller as tears are shed and the child is hugged and comforted by the parents.

Tonight was the School Spelling Bee, the first of many tiers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  The tension is one hundred fold when watching our son versus watching it on tv.  I am not sure who was more nervous, my husband and I or our son.  I am thinking it was the former.

We were most anxious for the first round.  He successfully spelled his first word and we settled down a bit.  By making it to the second round, he accomplished more than he had last year.  On hour and a half later, he was beaming as he realized he was won a spot in representing the school at the County Bee. 

I'll need to listen to my own advise at the County Bee as we sit in the audience and watch - "Don't worry about the results.  Be proud that you made it there."

Congratulations, Andrew!