Our community offers access to wonderful activities for homeschool students. Never fear, my daughter will not be socially inept although, she does act like a six year old and from what I can tell, being six means being fabulous, confusing, unresponsive, obnoxious and hilarious all in the span of thirty minutes.
Anyway...Isabella has asked us three hundred times since last winter to take her ice-skating, so when I saw that Kent State University was planning a two hour ice-skating session for homeschoolers, I jumped on the opportunity. Walter was also able to come and even got out there on the ice with Isabella after the formal teaching portion was over.
The very first thing they taught the group of eager students, was how to fall, and how to get back up. This proved a very good lesson since most students spent the first half hour falling and getting back up. The parents watched and let out quiet, "oh, that must have hurt"..."ouch"..."there they go again"..."they'll get it". And they did get it (most of them). I stood behind the Plexiglas window and remembered the months when Isabella was learning how to walk. I used to watch her in awe. Really, any toddler is the perfect example of the human spirit. They fall, and they get back up. Quitting isn't an option. We've all done it, and we all took on the challenge of walking, fearlessly, but when was the spirit of "try and try again" crushed to the point that maybe we gave up trying?
Parenting gives me a daily opportunity to get up and try again. At times I lie in bed at night and wonder how our day could have gone so terribly wrong, but quitting is not an option. So I begin the next day with a new resolve and God-given grace and clarity.
Isabella is so much braver than I feel I have ever been. She jumps on every opportunity to try something new, and love I this about her. My children offer the daily reminder that I must not give up on my passions, I must not give up on my faith and demonstrating my faith to my children, I must forgive myself, and if I fall, I must get up again.
Love it. Isabella looks great out there :)
ReplyDeleteA timely reminder for a family struggling to get their own business rolling. Hmm, you might also call this post: how to drop a stitch and keep going ;) Looks like fun. I appreciate learning about opportunities offered for homeschoolers, in case we're ever in that boat.
ReplyDeleteMy Dear Daughter,
ReplyDeleteYou are fearless and you show it ever single day parenting. Dad and I watched you learning to crawl on hardwood floors and again learning to walk. I still remember the first time you fell and scraped your knee on the sidewalk. You were fearless learning to ice skate and especially learning to ride your new pink bike! You were fearless and kept on getting on your bike even when you fell off and I took you to the emergency room. You got right back on that bike and kept going. As we get older we seem to forget how fearless and determined we have been to learn new things. You are correct that somewhere we lose some of that and have to keep remembering over and over to get back up and do it again.
Grandma Hampl needlepointed me a pillow when I was a newer mom and it says" Being a Great Athlete is Like Being a Parent, Quitting is Not An Option". We just have to get up and do our best and be fearless.
As parents we look with wonder as our children exhibit fearlessness and you my dear exhibit fearlessness daily even if you don't see it in yourself on a daily basis.
Love to you,
Mom