The race for kids

I have been thinking recently what kind of mother i am going to make.
Remember sports day at school when you were little and how your Mums and Dads had there races too?.  I dont ever remember my Dad being there (no surprise) but i do remember my Mum cheering really loudly, encouraging me and me cringing. I dont remember her running but i am sure she did.
Now lets look at those Mums in detail and see where i would fit in -

There are usually one or two ‘competitive Carlas’, they have been training for weeks under the cover of darkness, and they intend to WIN. Just the same way they expect their kids to… every time.
Next to them you’ll see the ’slap-dash Sophie’. She’ll run happily along and probably arrive last without making too much effort and doesnt really care what anyone thinks.
Then there’s ‘Tell-them-how-to-do-it Tina’. She misses the starting-gun becasue she’s busy telling the next two in the line how to run the race. When she gets to the end in tenth place, it’s someone else’s fault and she’ll talk about the unfairness of the eace all the way home.
‘Keeping-Up-Appearances Kerry’ runs becasue she wants to be seen to do the right thing. She’s desperate to get on to the PTA committee but her anxious expression, shared by all three of her children, tends to make other mums wary of her. She will genuinely lose sleep if she is placed further down the rank than third.
‘All-Right-Then Ann’ is the one who was persuaded to join in by her two boys against her better judgement. She hardly ever runs-let alone in a straight line – but she doesnt want to let them down. She throws her shoes into the long- jump pit just before the race and will probably lose them, but who cares, this is for the expression on those two faces! She runs as fast as she knows how and is genuinely surprises to find herself come in second. Her triumph earns much laughter at the dinner table.

I am not sure where i stand in line with these ladies. I know that i am quite competitive but i know that i wouldnt be as competitive as Carla. Its only a little kids race after all. I mean its not about me is it. Its about my kids and doing it for them.
I like to think that i am a little like Ann but without losing my shoes.
Perhaps Ann is the only one who takes time to find comparisons between the race on that day and the mothering she does. Its all over too quickly, she thinks. There are no real winners or losers and training doesnt make much difference. You just have to get on and do it the best way you can, in your own style, and watch the expressions on those little faces. And, above all, hope with all your heart that just as ‘Competitive Carla’ is about to break the tape, she trips and goes headlong into the orange squash stall.