I talked to my daughter about the relay race and lost the argument

My daughter, who is in her final year of kindergarten, is practicing for her last sports day relay race.

I happened to have a chance to watch her practice.

My daughter's team was in second place out of four teams.

"Oh, that's a good position!"

I thought to myself as I watched, and then my daughter received the baton.

In my heart, I was cheering,

"Go for it! Pass the kid in front of you!"

However, my daughter kept running while maintaining the same distance from the child in first place.

Even when the child in front slowed down a little, for some reason, my daughter slowed down too.

"Huh?"

She could have passed them if she wanted to, but she didn't.

I wondered if she didn't understand the fun of a relay race yet.

That's what I was thinking.

When we got home, I asked her.

"Why didn't you pass the kid in front of you at that time?"

"If you pass them and take first place, your friends and their moms will be happy, you know."

My daughter thought for a moment and said,

"They wouldn't be happy."

"Huh?"

I was surprised, and she added,

"The mom of the kid who got passed would be sad."

I see.

Indeed.

That is certainly true.

I was completely speechless.

Watching the relay, I had only been thinking about

"passing the kid in front,"

but it seems my daughter was thinking about

"the mom of the kid who got passed."

When I told my husband about it, he laughed out loud.

But when I remember my daughter running while carefully maintaining the gap with the child in front,

maybe she wasn't holding back, but rather, it was the result of her running as seriously as she could in her own way.

It's quite difficult to convey the fun of a relay race.

But it was an event that made me think that children's ways of thinking are truly interesting.