Trampoline Olympics

One summer after watching the Olympics on TV Sarah Margaret decided that we should start doing Trampoline Olympics. All three of us would compete and at the end a judge would decided who deserved gold, silver, and bronze. So the three of us each went to the "Barney Bag" (our craft closet, yes we do still call it that) and we got paper and marker and laminating sheets to make the medals. We cut out little circles and colored them appropriately then covered them in laminate to make them durable, and because we were in a phase where we laminated everything. Then we went out to the trampoline to commence the ceremonies. Once we started the Trampoline Olympics Dennis and I realized a little problem with our system: Sarah Margaret was both a competitor and the judge. A pattern was starting to form. Sarah Margaret would announce the next event or stunt it would be one that she was good at, then we would all give it our best shot. She would always get gold, Dennis always got silver, and I always got bronze. We did butt bounces, which I am an expert at. I mean I am so good at bouncing up, landing on my butt and landing back on my feet. We did front flip, which I am not so good at. I usually just flop onto the trampoline and tuck at the last minute so I don't break my neck. There were a number of other jumps and stunts that we had to do, but the order and the medals never changed.. At the time I didn't get too upset. I was too ignorant to realize her scheme until later. Then of course later when it hit me what had happened and how I had been taken advantage of by one of my older siblings again.

Now that I am older and I have some perspective I realize that Trampoline Olympics were not completely unfair. Granted, Sarah Margaret probably should not have been allowed to compete and be the judge. On the other hand, if I am honest with myself I know that she probably did deserve gold in every category. She has always been good at doing tricks on the trampoline. Dennis was always second best, so he deserved gold. My pathetic flops definitely deserved the bronze medal. So it should not have bothered me. Also looking back I remember that my favorite part of Trampoline Olympics was cutting out, coloring, and laminating the medals. I also realize that Marg had me make all the bronze ones, Dennis made silver, and she made the gold ones. If I had been smarter I would have known her plan from the start. But overall we had fun playing together that day. I guess Trampoline Olympics was a success after all.