This morning went almost without a hitch. I ended up going to bed around 2:30am this morning since my brother was heading back to California today and he left this morning around 1am. This meant I almost didn’t wake up in time for us to get out the door in time!

But we made it there with plenty of wiggle room to spare and Tuxedo Cat only had two other guys in his heat. One kiddo in his age group and one guy in the next age group up.

This was the 100M Walk and right out the gate, the oldest kid got stopped for jogging and made to walk while the littlest one started with a good walking clip. So of course, my son had to pace himself between the both of them so that the smallest one got first place without leaving the other guy completely behind. I suppose this is the curse of having two brothers with volatile tempers.

It also goes to show why it wasn’t exactly a bad thing he competed against the older group yesterday with the Softball Throw. In that heat, all but one person was slightly bigger than he was. His first throw was a real, honest effort. He threw 15 feet. The second throw was a half hearted toss that basically said, “Whatever.”

This kid is there to be a part of the experience and to socialize in his way. The effort he puts in I think is based upon how he perceives those around him. So in the case of the softball, when he saw his throw is about the same as theirs the first time, he didn’t try as hard the second time. He was good enough as far as he was concerned.

Sometimes I wonder if he aims to be in the middle so he isn’t picked on, but isn’t hurting anyone’s feelings either. And yet somehow he doesn’t seem to stress over it either. He makes it look effortless. Like it’s natural. It’s just his way of doing things.

I don’t know. I could be reading way too much into it. It could be all by accident. But when I see things like this morning when he keeps checking where both boys are and adjusts his pace to stay exactly between them… I can’t help but think I’m right. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do stuff like that.

I think every year I post about the Special Olympics there’s at least one event where he’s done something like this.

So yes, in case you’re wondering: Tuxedo Cat got second place today in the 100M Walk for his division. But really, I’m more proud of him being concerned about the emotional well being of others. I know this is something I say often of him, but I hope this kindness of his is something he never loses.