Things that actually do not have limits
- Energy
- Imagination
- Determination
- Perseverance
- Negotiation
- Joy
He is a little World Cup fan so we negotiated a good nap in exchange for staying up to watch USA play. Mike and some friends came over to watch so he split his time "helping" Uncle Mike fix his car and checking on the game and the appetizers. And like a trouper, after the painful last 20 seconds he came up to bed for a few stories and a kiss.
He has two favorite things - the pool and the possibility to playing with the girl next door. Tess has a pink Jeep and a sense of humor, the pool is the gateway to magic.
The pool. More than anything he wants to join the fraternity of boys who walk off the edge with abandon. He studies them with the intensity of a scientist searching for the key. Do they hold their nose, do they pull up their knees, do they stay near the safety of the edge? For the past few days he has been dancing closer and closer to the goal. Step 1. Abandon the noodle - test where he can stand on his feet and where he can touch on tippy toes and where he can bounce on his toes and still keep his head above water. Back and forth he has gone. Playing catch with Grandpa and Mr Norm, inching closer to the limit, ready to reach back to the Nana who was his shadow, smiling with that little gleam that says, see I did it. Step 2. Playing in the zone. Starting with tossing the ball, and then studying the older kids who were using a Princess kick board as a bat for pool baseball. After they headed out and left the kick board, we played baseball, and then he toyed with jumping on the kick board. Just as I thought we were packing up the Tennis Camp kids and their counselors arrived. Oh what an arrival. Twelve 6 -12 year olds descended on the pool like banshees, and he was enthralled. They were tossed into the pool like laundry bags and bounced back begging for more. A cadre of parents with the B team arrived bringing wee tots and kindergarteners to the mix. And then the most alluring person of all came on the scene. An obviously younger brother came into our zone and proceeded to hold his nose jump in, thrash the 18 inches to the steps and get out, only to repeat the process over and over. Here inches away from my warrior was the challenge. Having survived one quasi accidental cannon ball from the second step that dunked him, he grabbed the kick board and demanded to try to launch himself off the steps time after time. I never knew you could launch, catch, kick and return to repeat in less than one minute. As the kick board holder I was impressed. Each time as I held the board he tested himself. Only the Adult Swim whistle saved us and sent us home. A swim meet kept us from going back later in the afternoon. Weather permitting we are back in the pool tomorrow.
The second lesson is friends rock. Yesterday he met our neighbor child who raced cars with him for an hour. Pink Jeep against Silver BMW. Sadly she was not available today since she had a sitter and another child visiting. It broke my heart to see how much he yearned for a friend no matter how transient. Tomorrow we will see if we can negotiate friend time.
I realize I don't have the fire he has to keep trying, dancing around the challenge, defying the odds each time he leaps for the board, hoping for the friend to pop out on the driveway. It made me realize that my only gift is to keep holding the kick board, no matter how long, to ring on the doorbell and see if she can play, because he is ready and eager to join the fraternity of boys who just jump in.
Years ago there was another golden haired boy who wanted to jump in. My only hope is that I gave him the courage or at least didn't stand in the way of flying.
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1 comment:
The best vacations at Nana's house are the ones where you leave with a new found sense of bravery and the ability to do things you never though possible. Thanks for being that person that he feels brave with!
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