3 months ago
Oldroyd's Never Give Up
Yesterday I went on a field trip with my first grader. Even though it took some juggling to get myself there, it was worth it the second I walked into her classroom and our eyes met. Jillian smiled waving erratically to make sure I saw her. She was thrilled to have me along.
The bus drive to the farm was bumpy and super loud with excited kids. I tried to make a quick phone call to make sure my preschooler was doing ok, but I couldn't hear the person on the other end. Oh well. No cell phone on the bus. The dad behind me learned the same thing trying to catch a work call.
The farm was great as expected: horses, cows, chickens and even a mommy pig and her 10 newborn piglets. And of course the highlight -- a hay ride around the farm. What could be better? Oh yeah -- How about climbing a tree?
There's a wild tree that has its trunk scooping down and low to the ground. Literally, a perfect climbing tree for 26 kids. I take a seat on the nearby bench to see if I can make a quick call to check with my friend who is picking up my four-year old after preschool for me, when I notice my daughter attempting to jump up on a thick low hanging branch. I sort of grit my teeth and wa-bang! She slips, falls backwards and lands on her back onto another log. Phone gets thrown on the ground and I scoop her up before she even realizes what happened.
Of course I'm thinking I should have left her on the ground to check for injuries first, but my mommy reflexes took over and instead I have her coddled in my arms -- and then the tears start. I know she's holding back, because she doesn't want the other kids to see her cry, but I tell her it's ok to cry and she lets it out. Her teacher comes over and I explain what happened. I check my daughter's back and it has scrapes along her bottom spine. I didn't know if I should take her home after the bus drive back... She's still sobbing as she yells at the other kids to stop who are trying the same thing on the branch.
Then all of a sudden, her tears end. She sits up wiping her eyes and says to me: "I'm going to try again." I'm like: NO WAY HOSE. But of course I encourage her whispering in her ear: "That's right - Oldroyd's never give up" (our family motto hanging in our family room). She grabs the branch and swings herself up. It's a triumph! I snap a photo with my phone (it's good for something after all). Her teacher comes by and tells Jillian how "brave" she is.
I was just so proud of my daughter sitting up on that tree branch. I remembered back to when she was trying to learn to pedal a bike and we had to go over the lesson of not giving up. Or when she was trying to spell a difficult word a few weeks ago and we had to encourage her to keep trying. And yet today, when I wanted her to back away, she herself decided to try again. She took the initiative and made it a triumph.
Sometimes I wonder if all the little things we do every day really add up. Today, I learned that they do.
The bus drive to the farm was bumpy and super loud with excited kids. I tried to make a quick phone call to make sure my preschooler was doing ok, but I couldn't hear the person on the other end. Oh well. No cell phone on the bus. The dad behind me learned the same thing trying to catch a work call.
The farm was great as expected: horses, cows, chickens and even a mommy pig and her 10 newborn piglets. And of course the highlight -- a hay ride around the farm. What could be better? Oh yeah -- How about climbing a tree?
There's a wild tree that has its trunk scooping down and low to the ground. Literally, a perfect climbing tree for 26 kids. I take a seat on the nearby bench to see if I can make a quick call to check with my friend who is picking up my four-year old after preschool for me, when I notice my daughter attempting to jump up on a thick low hanging branch. I sort of grit my teeth and wa-bang! She slips, falls backwards and lands on her back onto another log. Phone gets thrown on the ground and I scoop her up before she even realizes what happened.
Of course I'm thinking I should have left her on the ground to check for injuries first, but my mommy reflexes took over and instead I have her coddled in my arms -- and then the tears start. I know she's holding back, because she doesn't want the other kids to see her cry, but I tell her it's ok to cry and she lets it out. Her teacher comes over and I explain what happened. I check my daughter's back and it has scrapes along her bottom spine. I didn't know if I should take her home after the bus drive back... She's still sobbing as she yells at the other kids to stop who are trying the same thing on the branch.
Then all of a sudden, her tears end. She sits up wiping her eyes and says to me: "I'm going to try again." I'm like: NO WAY HOSE. But of course I encourage her whispering in her ear: "That's right - Oldroyd's never give up" (our family motto hanging in our family room). She grabs the branch and swings herself up. It's a triumph! I snap a photo with my phone (it's good for something after all). Her teacher comes by and tells Jillian how "brave" she is.
I was just so proud of my daughter sitting up on that tree branch. I remembered back to when she was trying to learn to pedal a bike and we had to go over the lesson of not giving up. Or when she was trying to spell a difficult word a few weeks ago and we had to encourage her to keep trying. And yet today, when I wanted her to back away, she herself decided to try again. She took the initiative and made it a triumph.
Sometimes I wonder if all the little things we do every day really add up. Today, I learned that they do.
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