Paper Plane Competition

A few days ago, Ace came home and told me that he had been selected to possibly take part in a paper airplane competition organized by the science centre....

They will hold a round of competition in school first and send a winning team to take part in the main event at the Science Centre.

So when he told me about it, I told him that my friend, Uncle Alfred, whom he met before, had learnt how to fold world record breaking paper plane from the world record breaker.. and so Ace asked if he could connect with Uncle Alfred to learn more from him.

I messaged Alfred and when he responded, Ace was already asleep so we had a quick chat. Alfred shared some helpful pointers about how it boils down to how you fold the plane, how you throw the plane and having lots of practice. He said they will be conducting some workshops in the science centre and suggested that Ace might ask his teachers if they will send them there.

I also told Ace maybe it is a good idea to get help from his classmates but he said he wanted to do it himself and said he had already gone online to do all the research.

When i told him what Alfred said on our way to school the next day, I also asked Ace why he did not make it for the past years... I thought will be good if he can learn from his mistakes. He told me that in the past, he had been using another type of plane and apparently it doesnt work... so this year, he is using a new type of plane.

He even invested in a stack of plain paper to practise folding the planes...

So it seems like he was all prepared...

However, when he came home from school. He did no look happy at all. I asked him how was the competition and he said he did not make it.

Then he revealed that he did not make it because he forgot to fold and extra step. But when he did, his plane flew 7 seconds...  when the fastest plane only flew 5 seconds.

I told him it is ok, it is a good experience anyway... and then he went to his room to sulk.

I think my son has grown up. If this happened last year, I would have expected him to come home crying...

I let him be and after a while I went into his room and offered him a hug... He says it is ok.. He will be ok.

I told him it is just a learning experience and I reminded him that this happened because he was not well prepared enough. His usual attitude towards most things is quite chillax... He doesnt really care and put much thought or focus on it. He always depends on his teachers, his parents etc to remind him. He is not mindful or aware most of the time and mindfulness is a habit that needs to be developed daily...

He scrunched his face up like he was going to cry... and I told him that crying is not really helpful in this case. Probably better to just learn from this and move on... and then I walked away and let him be after reminding him to go take a bath.

After he finished his bath, I decided that though he declined me, he looked like he really needed a hug so I walked over to him and hugged him and I told him that I loved him no matter what... and even if he did not make it to the competition, I still loved him.. just jia you for the next time.

And he was ok.

Hopefully, he learns his lesson...

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