Tag: Pride

Girls on the Run! 

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One reason to have a kid: the indescribable pride you feel when they accomplish a task that they wrestled with for months.  It is a feeling that I could never get from my pup or my next door neighbor or work.  It is a combo of pride and love and excitement and joy and exhilaration.  This little creature who you have nurtured and held and loved and rocked has accomplished something all her own.


Ri joined Girls on the Run in March.  She dreaded the running part of the meetings, and would pray that Girl Scouts or Strings was scheduled on a day that she had GOTR.  But then I would ask her in the evening how GOTR went, and she would reply “oh, it was fine.”  As much as she was blasé about it, or even disliking it at times, I think she learned a lot from it over the 10 week period of time.  They taught about negative thinking and body images in the media and eating healthy.  They taught about standing up for yourself and others and being strong.  And they taught these girls that they could make a goal and accomplish it even if they didn’t particularly enjoy doing it. Perseverance!

During the last week, Ri has willingly gone outside and ran up to Grandview Ave. and back.  This is a mile run.  This may not seem like a big deal to many but it is HUGE for Maria Grace.  This girl had zero desire to ever run and I believe she believed she could not do it.  So to see her strapping on my MP3 player and jogging up the street and back brought me to my knees (literally, I fell to my knees in jest and Ri rolled her eyes and chuckled). She always keeps me guessing.


 She did not exhibit any concern about the race the night before.  She asked what she should eat for breakfast and I told her definitely not a DK donut (her usual Saturday treat with dad).  She ate a half of a ham omelette and a piece of toast.  Smart girl.  Her girlfriend, Norah, wanted to run with us since her mom wasn’t running in the race.  This was a great thing because the two of them are similar in their running styles.  We arrived at the event and found the Grandview Girls team. We had to buy running head bands and pin on our numbers and take the obligatory pictures. I really enjoy the kids and the moms that participated in GOTR. They were a lively group and helped keep the girls’ momentum and excitement going as we waited for the race to begin.


  
The super heroes also kept our spirits up! When I saw Wonder Woman, I asked Ri to get a picture. She started walking over to her and I stopped her. “No, take my picture with her!” Ri shook her head. I eventually let her and Norah get a picture, too.



Finally, it was time to start the race.  We lined up with some other moms and waited for the gun to go off.  Waiting five minutes seems like 30 minutes when you are about to run a race.  But soon enough we were off and jogging.  Within 100 feet, Ri asked if we could walk a little.  This was going to be a long 5K.

But it wasn’t. It went by in a flash for me. Ri probably feels differently! She was not a happy camper most of the race – definitely feeling the heat and humidity as well as the pangs of running an entire 3.1 miles. We ran a bit and then set up goals to reach to walk a bit. But it wasn’t hard to get them both running again after some down time, which was a good thing. I just kept telling them that they were doing awesome and that the more we ran, the closer the finish would be. I kept trying to think about the end of my marathon and how much I hated the last few miles because I knew that was how Ri felt. But my girl kicked it into high gear when we turned onto Rich Steeet and she saw the Finish sign.


   She ran the race in 36 minutes, which is amazing for someone that has rarely run. I was beaming as we came to the end. How amazing is this daughter of mine to push herself to her limit even when she did not want to and end on a strong note? Love her to pieces. Jon and Mario and Patty were waiting at the end cheering us on and snapping pictures. That part is always so wonderful.


The girls got Popsicles and were relieved to call it over. They couldn’t believe how much they sweated (now Ri may have an appreciation for why I’m so sweaty after the gym). I spent the entire rest of the day with my heart up in the sky elated by my girl’s determination and umph and grateful for the women who put this program together. If it wasn’t for them, Ri would have missed out on conquering an activity that she never thought she’d accomplish.  How much I appreciate their efforts and confidence in the girls.

One more shot of esteem and dose of confidence for this girl. Let’s keep ’em coming.

Riding into the Sunset

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I had just parked my bike at Giant Eagle and was beginning a short walk around the block to call my friend who needed to talk to me about her irritating boss.  I had a couple of minutes before I had to relieve Megan, our sitter.  As I looked down at my phone to dial my friend’s number, a text message popped up from Megan. 

“She’s riding!” is all it said with a video attached. 

Maria on her princess bike at age 4

I opened it up with much anticipation, and there she was.  My 6 year-old girl on her new two-wheel, no training wheels bike gingerly riding up our street.  Without hesitation, the tears formed in my eyes and began to fall.  Memories flooded my mind… Maria as a newborn in her bouncy seat sleeping in the sun; Maria at age 1 holding on to the edge of the sofa as she felt those chunky gorgeous thighs moving across the floor;  Maria at age 2 clinging on to me as people tried to hold her; Maria at age 3 eating spaghetti and meatballs with a full red-sauced face; Maria at age 4 playing dress-up with her pre-school friends; Maria at age 5 entering kindergarten and already seeming so grown up. 

And now look at her – she is practically an adult riding that bike so well down the street.  It all started late last week when she got an invitation from her friend, Riley to attend her birthday party at a local park.  The picture on the birthday card showed Riley riding a two-wheeled bike.  The invitation stated “Come ride your bike with Riley around the park!”  Maria looked down at the floor and walked away as I read the invite. 

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked her.

“I can’t ride a two-wheeled bike, mom.  They will make fun of me if I have a bike with training wheels.”

Maria and Megan

I explained to her that she is good at lots of things and although some friends may be able to ride a two-wheeled bike, they can’t do certain things as well as she is able do them.  Everyone has their strengths and their challenges.  Biking on a two-wheeled bike was her challenge at this time.  She seemed to get it and started to name things that she did well – rock climbing, taking care of babies, artwork.  She had tried to ride her friend’s bike a few weeks ago and it was a challenge to say the least.  She just did not seem to have that innate ability to balance.  I had read in the magazines about starting your child off on a bike with no wheels so they have to balance back and forth as they go down the sidewalk but Maria has had her training wheel princess bike since the age of 3 and has always done great with it so we never rocked the boat with a no pedal bike. 

Another factor is that my baby girl is not naturally athletic.  She struggles to hit the baseball or strike a golf ball or hop on one leg and then the next.  I worried that she would not easily pick up the skill of riding a two-wheeled bike because of that fact.  But what Maria lacks in natural athleticism, she makes up for in will.  She tries anything (i.e., scaling a hand-made boulder at the summer festival and ringing the bell at the top) and she continues to try even if she fails the first time (it took her a few tries to get to the top of the boulder and ring that bell).  As much as her strong-willed personality can get on my nerves (i.e., refusing to brush her hair), I thank the stars for it. 

I scoped out bikes on Tuesday morning at the local used goods store and found a 20 inch one.  We had tried that size before and found that it was just a tad bit too big for her.  Her 16 inch bike, however, is way too small for her (her poor knees stick out on both sides like ears).  We really need an 18 inch bike but they are hard to find.  I wanted Maria to try the bike out before I bought it so I asked our insanely awesome babysitter, Megan, to take her down to the used goods store after school and buy it if she looked like she could at least begin to try to ride it.  Of course Maria liked it (I knew she would – it could have been black and had skulls all over it and she would have liked it because it was something new).  Mario also found a bike that was red with black flames.  He needed a bike, too and his was half off so I approved for Megan to buy them both. 

I texted Megan later that afternoon and kiddingly asked “Is Maria riding on her own yet?”  Megan texted back “Haha, she is trying….”  Two days later, here she is riding on her own.  She still needs help starting up because the bike is too big for her to swing her foot over and start to peddle.  She also continues to work on braking and dismounting.  She frequently stops pedaling and takes a leap off the bike into the grass but if she concentrates enough, she can brake and then get her leg over the bike quick enough to have a fairly graceful dismount.  I am amazed at her progress.  I can’t imagine what I will be like when she wins the Science Fair or places in the swim meet or gets an A+ on an English essay. 

Thank you for the gift you gave me tonight, Maria.  You are one strong, willful girl and you rock it out.  Your mama is so proud.