Confidence....

One thing that Matt and I try to instill in our kids is self-confidence. I hope that as they grow they are confident in who they are and the decisions they've made. I pray that they don't give in to peer pressure, or allow others to put them down. Raising a daughter makes me very aware of how important self confidence is. Girls can be harsh and catty... It makes me cringe knowing that inevitably Katherine will someday end up on the wrong end of a hurtful comment.

In any event... one of her good friends is a second grade boy. He's a kid she's known since she was two years old, and they play together several times a week. Without going into all the details right now, we bought Katherine a trampoline for her birthday and these little neighbor boys aren't allowed to go on it ... a decision their parents made. Katherine uses the trampoline daily for her gymnastics. She's always working on her round-off back hand springs and is trying to get her back tuck. The back tuck isn't pretty. She either puts her hands down on the trampoline, ever so slightly, or lands on her knees. But Katherine isn't discouraged. Oh no... she keeps trying, and trying, and trying....

This little neighbor boy comes over and watches her try and try and try some more. Each time, she gets back up and gives it another go. All of a sudden, he says to her, "Katherine, you need to lose some weight. You're too fat to do that back tuck thing. If you were skinny you'd land on your feet". At this very moment, her hands fly up to her hips and she walks toward the opening of the trampoline where he was standing, looks him straight in the eyes, and says, "Max, you don't have a clue what you're talking about. I am skinny.... and short... and good in gymnastics. This is a hard skill and if you had ANY clue what you were talking about you wouldn't say such a ridiculous thing to me. I have the perfect body for gymnastics... I'm short and thin and strong. In fact, I'm stronger than YOU, and you're just jealous your mom and dad won't let you on this trampoline"!!

Part of me was beaming with pride watching her stand up for herself, and part of me was so relieved that she knew her own strength, and wouldn't let such a hurtful comment, by an older boy, rattle her. I was proud of her strength and conviction. I was proud of her determination. I was proud that she didn't let some silly comment discourage her. I was proud of her.

She'll get the back tuck. It just may take her a couple of weeks.... but she's strong enough and definitely determined enough.