Courage to try new things

Dance… and soccer… and gymnastics… oh my!

I try hard to keep up with the oh-so-many activities out there for my children.

Kids are soooooooo involved these days!

And no matter how much they do, it seems like there’s always one more thing they haven’t tried.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my 9-year-old daughter found herself on shaky ground, quite literally. She was invited to a roller skating party, but had never even put on a pair of roller skates in her life! The pressure of seeing all of her friends whizzing by her in skates brought her to tears. At this moment, I felt like a failure as a parent. It broke my heart. I mean, what kind of mom doesn’t take her kid skating?

I listened to her, hugged her and after about 20 minutes she put on some skates and gave them a try. Sure, she looked like scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz because she couldn’t stay on her feet, but at least she built up the courage to try. And a bonus … we didn’t end up in the emergency room, especially since mama hadn’t skated in a couple of decades and some change.

Filled with determination, I took all three of my girls roller skating the following weekend. Now, I can check that off of the never-ending list of things they haven’t done. Up next… skiing? That would be a first for me too. Perhaps the scarecrow can share some of her courage with me, the cowardly lion.