Dilemmas, dilemmas

Well, as I was tucking Drew into bed tonight, I was giving him a heads-up that he'd be having a Boys' Day AND Night on Saturday. When he asked why, I just explained that I had the big tournament, and left it at that in the hopes that the topic would pass quickly and he could get to the task of going to sleep. But no, instead he told me he wants to go.

Here's the thing. It's going to be HUGE. Like over 1000 people there. And if he actually attended, what time is Drew's ring supposed to start? 8:30 AM. And how far away is this thing? At least an hour or so away. Now, this is the same kid who will get up at 7:30 on the weekends and you can't get him up at that same time all week for school. And he wants to go to a tournament very far away for him? Additionally, JC is convinced that I've talked Drew up to this, when on the contrary, I've been trying to discourage him from going for the reasons mentioned before. But Drew was very determined tonight that he wanted to go and get a trophy (they do trophies instead of medals at the local regionals). He told me that he didn't want to do weapons, which is fine (as it costs more!) and he'd just do forms and sparring. And due to the fact that Drew also declares that he doesn't like class but he likes tournaments, JC has his doubts. It's a lot of trouble to get him there, etc. and have to bring him home while I stick around and do my stuff later in the afternoon. (I wouldn't expect him to stay anyway-- it's almost a given that Drew would have to be taken home by JC after his ring and meeting Grandmaster, if he did that.)

Part of me is happy he wants to go. He handled himself so well last Saturday at our school tourney that I'm glad he likes the experience and wants to do more. But, I have the same hesitations as JC for the same reasons, although I'm a little more convinced that Drew understands what's involved. I emailed SW about it, as there was something about Late Entrants Round and thought maybe he could swing that, but she couldn't guarantee it, as Master R who is hosting the tourney wasn't supposed to put anything about late rounds in the brochure, but he did.

So what do you think? Do I encourage his interest in the tournament, and get him used to this atmosphere of the larger arena so he's more comfortable as he gets older? (He's been to a B tournament before which is pretty large, and this is an A tourney, which is even bigger.) Or do I tell him some sort of white lie about why he can't go, like we didn't know that they closed out the entries deadline and we were too late. He'll still be upset, but at least he'd understand that more than Daddy's skeptical about hauling you all the way out there. JC wants to talk to Drew directly himself to make sure Drew understands what's involved.

So there you have it. The dilemma. Should we let Drew go to this thing, or not? We have to make a decision fast, that's for sure, as the tourney is this Saturday, and I told JC that we needed to know by the end of tomorrow.

Gadzooks.

(crossposted to my regular blog.)