Keep Trying

On Monday I wrote about Big Prince trying out for the Swimming Gala at school and on Wednesday I was so nervous for him. He was really looking forward to it and couldn’t wait to get to school, he wanted to leave the house at 8am so that he could be at school on time. Not that he has ever been late but this shows how excited he was.

When he left me with the biggest smile on his face I hoped that he wouldn’t be leaving school disappointed. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be and as he walked towards me at the end of school I knew straight away that he hadn’t made it into the Gala. As we walked to the car I put my arms around him and told him not to worry, he could always try out again next year. He told me he would but he needed to get lots of practice in between now and then because he wasn’t fast enough. Normally I don’t go in for the competition stuff but hearing him say that made me so proud. 

Big Prince has never been one to take on a challenge, or at least if he did and failed he wouldn’t try again. If he can’t do something he generally gives up. Swimming is different - he loves to be in the water. His stroke isn’t great and we’ve been working on that but he keeps trying and now he has a reason to push himself harder. I really believe that he will try and I’m sure he’ll spend the entire summer in the pool. 

For me it’s not the fact that he wants to win that’s important, it’s that he wants to try. He is striving to be better and I think this is awesome, I’ve been struggling for years to find something he could be passionate about and I’m hoping this is it. It’s something he enjoys doing but can also be competitive in and it keeps him active which is another bonus given his tendency to spend days on the Xbox.

So I’m expecting to be nagged constantly to take them to the pool and I’m sure he’ll spend as much time as possible working on his speed and stroke. I can’t wait to see how much progress he can make in a year, it’s going to be awesome to watch.

How do your children deal with disappointment? Do you have special tricks to push them or encourage them to try?

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