Quiet! The Olympics Are On.

The Stuff household has contracted Olympic Fever. I don't know why, but this year's Olympic games have got us hooked. The opening ceremonies were pretty spectacular and the kids really enjoyed them. Now, every morning, the kids decide to split half of their cartoon watching time with the Today show, to see Olympic updates. Once the real games come on in late morning, it's hard to pull them away. I guess it's always hard to pull them away from the TV, but at least watching the Olympics is a little more educational.

For example, Number One Son now knows the rule differences between indoor volleyball and beach volleyball. One team plays to 25 and the other plays to 21. I think that is what he told me anyway. Plus the uniforms are drastically different.

The Olympics are also providing opportunities to expand our vocabularies. Quite often I will hear N1S exclaim, "Ooooh, that was a tremendous dive!" Or he will utter, "Oh no, that fall will be disastrous for her score."

I could also tell that he is paying attention to some of the individual athletes. When women's swimming was coming up next, he excitedly said, "I hope Katie Hoff is in this race."

How does he know who Katie Hoff is? I don't even know who Katie Hoff is. She did happen to be in that race, and she was the favorite. N1S knows his stuff.

Sweet Pea's Olympic interests are less academic and more kinetic. She has been jumping, running and cartwheeling along with the athletes. She also is asking if she can be in gymnastics again. I have a feeling a lot of gymnastics and swimming camps are going to see an increase in enrollment due to Olympic fever. I even caught N1S 'rowing' in front of the TV while following the two-man rowing team.

Even the medals ceremonies have inspired Sweet Pea to display all three of her soccer medals earned in the past two years along with an inspirational and nationalistic poster.

Hopefully, we will be motivated to emulate some of the spirit of the games into our lives, long after the Olympics are over. Sportsmanship, national pride and exercise are all worthy goals to reach for. The kids both start swimming lessons next week. I'm sure there will be many mentions of Michael Phelps. If they want to be like Mike, that's fine with me. I won't be able to afford the new Olympic Speedo swim suit that is breaking all records this year. So the kids will have to make due with t-shirts and trunks. As for myself, I'm still petitioning the Olympic committee to include Lawn Grooming for the 2012 games in London.

The Big Show

The Summer Olympics are finally here. It's time to celebrate the best athletes in the world by sitting on the couch for hours watching them run, jump, punch, wrestle and not sit on the couch. The Olympics also remind me how long ago it was that my legs actually sprinted somewhere beyond the bathroom.

In an earlier post I mentioned my interest in the Winter Olympic sport of curling.

The Summer Olympics are different for me. I can't pick out a favorite event. I enjoy the track and field, cycling, boxing, swimming, diving, gymnastics and just about every other event. I don't care much for Olympic basketball or baseball though. I guess that's because those sports can be seen every year. I like the uniqueness of having to wait for a sport every four years.

Last night I thought it would be educational and entertaining to watch the opening ceremonies with the kids. We all were pretty impressed with the $100 million fireworks display and basketball court sized LED television screen. Number One Son repeatedly exclaimed, "How can they do that?", referring to the thousands of dancers with costumes that lit up. The kids practically pressed their noses to the TV screen to see how the athletes ran around the big glowing globe. We also tried to figure out how they made those hundreds of square shaped boxes go up and down in such precise patterns. Was anyone else surprised when hundreds of Chinese poked their heads out and waved? Sweet Pea enjoyed most of the show. She also practiced her cartwheels in the living room, probably inspired by the athletic gracefulness of the dancers.

One drawback to the opening ceremonies that I discovered is that, if you start watching them with your kids, you have to watch them all the way until the United States team marches around the stadium. Which turned out to be around 10PM. Oh well, it's not often that the kids get to stay up late. N1S made mental notes of how many athletes each team had and Sweet Pea made note of what the athletes were wearing. I wondered when the Chinese cheerleaders would collapse from exhaustion during the parade of nations.

I hope we can make watching the Olympics a family tradition. It's fun, historical and inspiring. I do have one question though. Why are the beach volleyball uniforms so much skimpier than the indoor volleyball uniforms?