the whole sordid affair

Let's try this again. We went bowling. Alex was excited. And I took the trusty point-and-shoot and I am telling you that I don't care how these look. Only that I captured the memory. OK? So what I'm really saying is that these pictures are horrid and dark, but I was taking pictures at the bowling alley. I wasn't trying to make art. OK. That said...He loves bowling.But only if it's bumper bowl.

But since there were no bumper bowl lanes open, he had to settle for the real thing, and any of you who know Alex know that he's maybe a tad overly competitive. And while I'm sure this is something he'll use to his advantage later on in his life as he learns to channel the anger into a more positive and effective coping strategy, it sure makes bowling a spectacle right now.
Do I even need to say that it was a gutter ball?And here he goes again, ladies and gentlemen. Gutter. Poor kid. So we had a little talk about how great it is to practice at something until you become great at it, and that no one is a good bowler their first time, and yadda yadda yadda, and then little Clarissa did this...And we were all happy for her, really we were. But deep down I was thinking, did she really have to knock down all those pins...right now? But these experiences are good for Alex as he learns to deal with his unreasonable perfectionism.
So we turned it into a game. We chose a funny face to pull if he knocked down pins, and an even funnier face to pull if he didn't. I was skeptical that it would work. Gutter ball, baby!!And we were happy again. See that stance right there? That's silent defeat. But will he turn it around?Absolutely!

It was a great lesson in learning how to lose with grace...something we all have to learn.

And the best part? A bumper lane opened up and everyone finished happy!