You know that it's a win-lose game, or at least a draw. At the first game, Suzy won. And when Leo realized that Suzy won, he went into a corner, squatted down and cried! My first response was... wow! I did not realized that it would affect him so strongly, that it is important for him to win. So I called him back, and try to lure to him to play another game with us.
Next game, I kinda "helped" Leo to win so he can have his pride back. And when Suzy realized that her brother won, she ended up went into the same corner, squatted down, and cried!!! Holy mackerel! I looked at their mom. I must have the astonished look on my face, because she had a small laugh and said,"Yep, that's how they are. Can't even play together and let someone win".
I gathered the children back and I told them this,"Don't worry if you lose in some turn, just play again. Keep try and try again! You will win eventually."
After a while, I left them to play together and get back to their mom, working on our project. At some moment, I glanced at Suzy who played alone and I observed that she made a straight O's and cross it out (as if that she's winning). Hm, looks like it's easy to win if there's no X at all. Of course. It's always easy to win if there's no obstacles in between. The bet is when there is some challenge to throw you off, but if you keep focus and be strategic about your game, you'll develop creativity and be tactical in the process.
I'm pretty sure they'll be fine when they're older. I believe all of us (parents, teachers, other adults in society) can continue to teach the younger generations the importance of having sportsmanship spirits. How to face failure and get up again. How to not quit and cry in our corner, instead we should never surrender and keep moving forward. To remember that the obstacles and challenges that come our way will make our victory even sweeter.
After all, tic-tac-toe was just a game. Good game, Suzy and Leo!
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