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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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For them to be human. Perfect at times, courageous and kind. But then to have those moments when they screw up and they're strong enough to stand up and admit it. Own it. Say they’re only human. And take whatever consequences they have coming their way.
So, yeah, I love me some Michael Phelps.
Four years ago, probably on this very week, I blogged about how I loved him because he loved his mother. That every time I watched him in the pool in Beijing and then saw the camera flash to Debbie, the single mother who raised him and his two sisters, I got all teary-eyed. Nothing better than a boy who loves his mother. More than anything.
At that point, he’d already won a wall of Olympic gold medals. And faced the media, his fans and his mother after getting a DUI in 2004, when he was just 19. Unfortunately a lot of teens drink. And drive. (Of course it’s a lecture I’m good at giving to oldest. He knows it’s one of those things that make me crazy.)
After his arrest, Phelps said he was stupid. Shook his head with eyes down when Matt Lauer asked if he felt he let a lot of young children and their parents down. He said there was nothing he could say to defend himself. To make what he’d done any better. I respected that.
Then in Beijing he filled another wall with gold medals. Our family didn’t miss a race. Or interview.
A few months after that, he was caught on someone’s camera smoking a bong. Stupid Michael. Stupid Michael. But again, he was human. Many young people his age do that. Experts say pot is the new beer for this generation. Scares the heck out of me.
But very few young people who choose to do it get their photo plastered on televisions across the country. Printed in newspapers and magazines. They often never have to face their mistakes. When you're an Olympian, better at your sport than anyone on the planet, you do, and you should.
After the bong photo, Phelps again apologized. Said he knew better. Didn’t make any excuses. Instead of running from interviews, he granted them. Yeah, yeah, he needed to restore his image, and cynics will say he had to do the interviews. But I don’t think so. He could have walked away.
Say what you want, but the guy does admit his mistakes and look his demons -- and critics -- in the eye. How can you not like that?
There’s something about the guy that has me hoping my boys will see him as someone to look up to or to be like. OK. Not the drinking and driving and pot smoking parts. (I prefer their acting up was a lot less, well, criminal. Say, skipping a class or something. That I could handle. And it doesn’t hurt anyone. )
But his work ethic, his drive to be the best at his sport and do what it takes to get there. And he's mostly humble when he does it.
Yet, he also will act his age at times, screw up and learn from it, look people in the eye after he does, and tell the truth.
People two and three times his age can’t seem to do that (think John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Morgan Freeman, and a myriad of pro athletes).
What I also like about Phelps is he gives my husband and I those opportunities to teach. You can bet we’ll be talking about how he should have congratulated Ryan Lochte in the pool this past weekend, instead of tweeting it later, but like I’ve said, the guy is human.
And our family will be cheering like crazy hoping he fills yet another wall with medals. They don't have to be gold; any color will do.
Excellent points! I agree. I saw a recent interview with him and he seems to have matured so much. My young neighbor thought Phelps had taken steroids. That's what poor choices will do--create an even bigger doubt and rumor mill. I'm sorry he didn't do as well this time, but it appears he's grown as a man. That's the example I want my kids to have, as well.
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