When Jason said that Conner was old enough to sign up for CYO wrestling, I was a little worried. Well, a lot worried. I had watched Jason wrestle all through high school and I had watched my brothers wrestle little guys CYO - I knew how difficult it was to watch it then - and I couldn't imagine watching as a mom of a wrestler. However, I quickly learned that I was tougher than I thought. Conner Mac is a great listener so I knew that he would learn the moves quickly. He is not "athletic" in the true sense of the word but he is patient and has great stamina and endurance. He weighed in all season at 38 lbs, the littlest on his team by far. He was also the youngest. The good side to that is he had great practice sessions with the older, bigger boys - the bad side is that they would often let him win or take it easy on him. At the first meet, Conner wrestled three times. He won one, lost one and gave up when he was 12 points ahead on the last round. We were proud of him - but didn't want him to give up. We quickly learned after the first meet that Conner has a little (well, a lot) of my anxiety. Jason was sure to point that out!! We have been working through it - slowly, but surely. I met with his teacher during the season for his progress review. He was doing well in class; overcoming his shyness, participating and with his studies. I explained to his teacher about his anxiety with wrestling and she made me feel a lot better. She pointed out that Conner is one of the most caring kids that she has ever taught and that he is sensitive to others feelings. She told me that she can tell that he has been taught to be caring and that wrestling is everything but caring. She told me to give him time - just like we have done at school. As his confidence grows, his anxiety will lessen. So - we are now almost to the end of the season. He still says he loves wrestling - but we are still working through the anxiety. I am excited to see the ways in which he grows over the next year. We are so proud of him!
I forgot to say how much I love his teachers and how thankful I am that they are honest and help us raise our children. The night after my conference with Conner's teachers, a local farmer invited us out to see his boys' 4-H pigs. The boys had a blast chasing after all the little piglets. Drew was jumping on all of them and chasing them around. Conner, on the other hand, was in a corner petting a sick piglet. He asked hundreds of questions about the sick pig to the farmer. The farmer explained that because the piglet was sick, he couldn't be with his brothers and sisters. Conner was sad and worried. He asked if he could bring the piglet home. The farmer explained that he was giving it medicine and that it would get better. That night, Conner prayed for the piglet. Conner asked Jesus to make it better and fatter. I couldn't help but to smile and think of Conner's teacher - she is right - he is such a sensitive little boy who cares about everyone and everything. He is such a special little boy.
