Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around.....

Have you ever wished you could do something better?
Has there ever been a skill you wished to acquire?
On Wednesday of last week I was driving my 6 year old home from school. As we talked about the days events, she shared with me that she wished she could jump rope. She told me how at recess her friends would often choose this activity and she would just have to sit there and watch because she couldn't do it. (insert sad face here)
I hated this. I hated that she so wanted to be part of the fun but that she had to feel "less than" because she wasn't able to do something that her friends had already mastered.
I told her that we would go buy her a new jump rope and practice until she could do it.
The next day after school we drove on down to the nearest Big 5. No kiddie jump rope was good enough for my athlete. She would have the best "real" jump rope we could find. The best turned out to be a $4.99 beauty with black handles.





I noticed that as she walked out of the store with her package, her shoulders were a little further back and I swear she was holding her head a little higher.
I could tell that she could see victory in her future.


We got home and she immediately took the jump rope out of it's packaging.
I watched her struggle to grasp the concept of jumping and turning the rope at the same time. Would she be able to do it? Would my daughter be shunned from all the playgrounds in her future because of her lack of jump ropedness? I admit.....in the beginning....things didn't look too promising.
I tried to give her the fundamentals. I huffed as I demonstrated my skills at jumping over the rope....again....and again....and again...and again...and again... and enough!
A call to my 12 year old son to take over the jumping enabled me to explain how it should be done. One shouldn't really be jumping AND talking anyway...right?....right?
It was so fun to watch her practice over the next 3 days. And watch her we all did.
Can I just say that I am so proud of that little girl. She was determined to do it...and guess what?
She did!



It was so awesome to see her so proud of her accomplishment!




What an inspiration she is to me.
I only hope I can live up to her greatness.


By the way....
why does that teddy bear feel the need to tie his shoes while jumping rope?





1 comment:

  1. if i could only borrow some of the courage to learn something new! the things our little ones teach us never ceases to amaze me. way to go Dylan!

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