Revelations come at the strangest times. Especially when they are from your kids. Those moments when we realize our kids are growing and becoming more independent. Where I have to let them go and struggle on their own a bit. It started when we decided to go swimming at the Bettendorf Y. I was excited because I love swimming as much as my three little girls. Well....It started out rather frustrating. We go into the locker room and get changed and I realize I brought everyone’s swim suit EXCEPT my own bottoms.... Ugh...After dumping out my bag 3 times hoping they would magically appear, I almost thought about wearing my black boy short underwear BUT (no pun intended) I decided to keep it classy. I had on a tank and yoga pants but felt so bad because I couldn’t get in and play. The girls weren’t too broken hearted so we all headed out and I sat there feeling like the “not wanting to get in the pool mom” but after awhile I got over it. We ended up getting into the deeper end (3 Ft) with life jackets. Bre, who just turned 3 stayed in the more shallow where I could watch her just as close as the twins. Now at this point I start to see that my twins are totally different lovers of water. Bella who is usually more timid, shockingly starts swimming out and paddling on her own while Liv does NOT want anything to do with letting go of the side. I let Bella do her thing happily doggie paddling along. I'm soo soo proud of her because she took it upon herself to “let go” and do
something uncomfortable. We do this for a while and they both even jump in but it’s not until I dare Liv to go swim out and grab the noodles to put away that it gets interesting. She is perfectly fine floating and trying to get to the edge. There for what seemed like 10 minutes but probably 30 sec starts getting frustrated because she can’t make her way almost to the point of crying. Momma Bear wants to just HELP her and get to the edge because that anxious “my child is in danger mode” kicks in. We get through the moment rather calmly when I tell her to let go of the noodle and just kick to the side (maybe 3 feet away) But to Liv it may have well been 300 feet. What I realize is I sometimes have to let my child struggle to become stronger and learn how to solve her own problems. She was is no danger but still wanted to make is easier for her.
I then think of all my struggles in the past and how incredible they have been to my growth. I was proud of Liv for getting there by herself and I could see after she calmed down and looked at me and said, “I did it!!” excitedly.
Struggle always is for a reason. It never gets easier. You just get better. Jim Rohn.
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