never give up

Watching your child fail is one of the hardest things to watch as a parent. Despite 3 months of preparation for her Winters Classic gymnastics meet and an hour warm up this morning, the outcome was grim. Needless to say, the minute Readan saw the judges and her name was announced over the HUGE mega-speakers she completely fell apart. I have never seen her fall on the vault (see video below) and it was just so sad to watch. Literally two minutes before this video was shot, she completed 3 PERFECT vaults!!!

With tears streaming down her face, I picked her up and carried her over to the side. Between sobs, "Please mommy, I just want to go home!!! Take me home!!" As much as I wanted to scoop her up and take her home, I knew this is something she was going to remember for a long time. She was hurt (she bent her toe). She was angry. She was embarrassed.

I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Readan, you fell. It's okay. You're going to try again and if you fall, it's okay. I'm proud of you for trying!"

And, yes, she fell again. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to watch.

After the meet was over I taught her the word 'determination.' "When you fell and got back up to try again....that was determination." It wasn't all sad though, she still got a ribbon and a really shiny trophy!!! They called her name, she ran up to the podium and claimed her prize. Her face lit the entire gym. This was the highlight for me....

Readan and I both learned a very important lesson today....never give up!