Imagine walking into an unfamiliar environment. You have no friends and you are unsure of what you are being asked to do. How confident do you feel?
What if someone came and yelled at you for not doing what they wanted you to do? What if they tried to push you into doing it?
Would you be ok with that?
I took Julian to swimming yesterday for the first time in six months. I figured that he would be cool getting in the pool as we just had a holiday in Broome and he was in and out of the water constantly.
He wouldn’t get in. He clung to my hand and hid himself behind my body.
The last time he did this I swore at him for the first time. I told him to get in the pool. I tried to drag him in. We were both in tears as we left, unsuccessful. You can read about that here.
This time I opened the gate, I encouraged, I showed him the way. I got in with my jeans on. Leo got in with his clothes on. We talked, we made up jokes, we sat on the edge of the pool but he didn’t get in. I watched him take in the other kids having the lesson. I watched him assess the pool, the teacher, the surroundings.
At the end, when the other kids got out, he tentatively jumped in. He had a joke with the teacher and showed her he could swim. Then we got out.
Today as we got to swimming lessons he went straight in. He jumped, splashed, smiled and made friends.
I was so proud of him.
I was proud of me.
For the little ones who are scared.
We, your Mothers, are your protectors and greatest advocates.
We, as Mother’s, do our best to help you navigate this new life.
For we’ve been there before.
We are sorry for putting our expectations onto you.
We are sorry for forgetting what it is like to be new.
We love you more than anything in this world
Everyday we get up and try to be better than the day before.
We do this for you.
xxx
you make me so proud of you, we as mothers would do anything to make our children happy and healthy and I am so glad that my love for you has given you the strength to bypass protocols and do what you think is right for your child xx
Love! He is a lucky boy to have a mama that can understand what his heart says and can support him in such an intuitive, loving and unconditional way. Wonderful! <3 I think your do-over was perfect.
Great great story! Thank you for this, you are a leading example to all of us. I also always try and put myself (mentally) into our daughter’s shoes, trying not to expect too much from a little being, who is still learning.
Thanks so much x