Watching My Children With Wonder...

Today’s musings have nothing to do with stitching and everything to do with life. This mother Dragon is so proud of her oldest dragonlet, Erin, it just had to work its way into today’s blog.

Now that she is in Grade 3, Erin is allowed to take part in some of the activities held after instructional time and has cheerfully gotten involved in both Choir and Cross-Country Running. Having been the child who always hurt herself in gym class or was the last one picked on teams for sports, I am always amazed at how much athletic ability and energy are packed into my oldest child.

Today was the second practice ever at the huge 2.3 km course (don’t ask me what that is in miles... I am totally metric for distance!) that winds its way through Moncton’s Centennial Park. Last week, Erin completed the course in 16.28 minutes, despite getting lost on one side trail and being distracted by a chipmunk. Today, she made a wrong turn between the two spotters on the course and got TOTALLY lost.

If it had been me, (and I doubt it ever would have been because I would never have had the courage to try out for the team) I would have been the one they sent the search party out for because I would have sat down in the trail and just cried... waiting for someone to find me. At least that is how I would have been at 8 years old.

Erin crossed the finish line at a run in 20 minutes and 14 seconds and THEN burst into tears... When she explained about being lost, Mr. Stewart, the wonderful teacher in charge of the event for the whole District, took a few of his precious minutes to bend down and speak to Erin, face to face. He found out where on the course she’d gotten confused... and then explained to her that next week she needed to stay on the main road between the two spotters. “When you see a parent/spotter, they will tell you when and where to turn,” he explained.

I’ve told her many times tonight how proud I am that she even finished the practice run... that I marvel at how she held it together until she finished the race... and I just hope that some of it sunk in.

How amazing to watch your child spread her wings and fly in a direction you never expected....