Playing Fair?

Hudson took a teensy step forward.  His little forehead creased as he cradled the white plastic spoon in his toddler hands, a mixture of frustration and concentration overtaking his face as every thought in his mind willed his tiny green Easter egg to stay in the spoon, not to fall to the ground.  He took another step.  Still safe.  He hadn’t yet made it to the starting line, Grandpa’s lawn chair, but it was clear he was already far behind.  Hudson’s excitement about the Easter activities culminated with this Egg-and-Spoon race; it was the last game that Easter, the last chance for Hudson to finally defeat his older brother, Logan.  Logan was nine, already well past Hudson’s clumsy-toddler stage that had led Hudson to drop his blue egg every couple steps.  But things would change at the starting line.  I watched my cousins from the porch of my grandparent’s backyard as they lined up for the race.  Despite his age, despite his uncoordinated grasp of the plastic spoon, I knew that I had evened the playing field, given Hudson a chance (for the first time in his life) to conquer over the coolest guy he’d ever known, his older brother.

Hudson

Logan and Hudson

            The children lined up, Hudson easily a head shorter than his shortest competitor, but I knew he could win.  They left the line and started across the green grass.  Logan was half the yard ahead of his younger brother already, but I knew Hudson would win.  Logan took another three steps to Hudson’s one feeble step, but then Logan’s orange and purple-striped egg tipped off the spoon and landed in the lawn.  He laughed it off, jogging back to the start, but I knew that this was the end of the race.  Hudson continued, his face serious with concentration, and crossed the finish line just before his brother could catch him.  Hudson was ecstatic. He’d never beaten his brother at anything and now he’d done it!  He hadn’t even dropped the egg once!  The smile on his face was as big as on Christmas, his eyes overfilling with confidence, and it was all because of Logan and I’s strategically placed loop of tape that had held that tiny green egg to Hudson’s spoon during the entire race.