Character counts...but not when you need to win

Luke's character qualities become ever more apparent as time flies by. It also becomes more apparent that we have the same qualities, good and bad:)

Every morning before dropping Luke off at his preschool classroom, we go over what his behavior should vaguely look like for the day. It usually goes something like this:

Me: "What are supposed to remember when you're away from Mommy?"

Luke: "I need to make good choicesssss...listen to teachers...and not pinch my friends when we dance." 

Me: "Ok, those are all good things to remember. Also, be kind with your body and words"

Luke: "Ok mommy!  Have a good day!"

Carolyn and I leave and do amazing things while he is away, you know like grocery shopping!

When I return to the school to retrieve my son he almost always comes out of the room happy to see me and is yelling, "Hi Mommy!  I'm so glad to see you. I made good choices today!"

Sometimes his teacher nods and agrees and other times she says, "well, mostly". 

This day was a "well, mostly" kind of day. 

Teacher: "We're still having trouble wanting to be the boss, or first, or the winner." And the problem is???? No I'm  kidding. She goes on to say, "when we are running in the gym, he tends to cut other kids off, push to get ahead of them, yell that he's the winner."

After much empathy showed toward the teacher, I walk away with my head hanging. As I walk to the car I think how I'm going to handle this because he comes by this quality honestly as he gets a double dose from his parents. We also want him to do his best, always, so how do I go about not cofussing him.  Turns out, there isn't much to do. 

Me: "Luke, when we are playing with our friends it's ok if we loose sometimes. We shouldn't push people over just so we can be first. That will hurt their feelings."

Luke: "Yes.  I don't want to hurt their feelings."

Me: "So Luke, it's ok to loose sometimes, right?"

Loooooong quiet pause and look of mom you might be crazy plus a little eye roll meaning that's the most ridiculous thing you've said today. 

Luke: "No mom, NEVER." And just goes about eating his lunch. 

Heaven help me to encourage his tenacity to want to do well, but also to be humble about each task!