Ice Princesses

 Jordyn and her friend Sarah started ice skating lessons this week.  She has been able to talk of nothing else since we signed up.  It was so cute sitting there watching them learn to skate.  Jordyn had the cutest little bum wiggle when they were trying to skate backwards.  I was dying it was so darn cute.  Her little body was made for wiggling.  That's what makes her a natural at the butterfly stroke on the swim team. Towards the end she fell and really hurt her bum.  I hadn't seen the fall so when she came and sat down by me in the stands I thought she was just tired or her feet hurt.  Sarah's mom, Kim, went and did the thing you don't do....ask if she was all right.  Well, the tears started flowing and she told me that she had fallen and her bum was hurting real bad.  I let her sit next to me and I gave her some love and encouragement and then tried to talk her into going back out for the last 20 minutes of class.  She didn't want to go because she was hurting too bad and probably afraid that she would fall again.  I didn't want her to be afraid of falling so I kept encouraging her to go out.  I stood up and put my hand out and pleaded with her to go back out.  This only made her ascend the stairs further and cross her arms and shake her head at me.  That's when tough Mom came out and told her that I spent a lot of money on these lessons that she begged for months for and she needed to shake off getting hurt because part of ice skating is getting hurt.  She reluctantly held out her hand and made the slow motion descend to the ice. I told her that she could stay on the wall but she had to go around one time and then she could come out and take off her skates and we would go home.  She played around on the ice right next to the door while giving me sad, dirty looks and then finally took off around the rink.  Half of the rink was netted off so you either had to turn around to come back or cross the middle of the ice to make a circle around the rink.  Well, she decided to cross the middle and then stopped at the door giving me that sad dirty look some more.  I thought for sure she would come out and put her shoes on completing all that she was required to do, but the next thing I knew she took off around the rink again.  Stubborn little thing.  She had to give me those faces so that it didn't look like she was ok and having fun.  That's ok, that's what moms are for.  Knowing when to push and having courage not to back down and melt when you see the mad/sad face.  

That night after I had put the kids to bed I noticed something sitting on my bed.  It was this big card.  The front of it reads: "I love you dearly and I love how you comfort me and you don't give up on me and you try hard xoxoxox I love mom."  The second page read: "I love Dad, I love you dearly and I miss you every day.  I love how you make money so we can go on vacations and I love you dad."  This girl was sent straight from Heaven.  She is only 8 but when she does and says stuff like this she reveals herself as an old and wise soul.  I am grateful everyday that even though I wasn't sure how on earth I could handle having a 4th kid so soon after our 3rd, Ethan, we decided to take a leap of faith and go for it before I changed my mind.  How grateful I am for that decision.  She has been a blessing to our family and I couldn't imagine her not with us.  I feel the same about each of my children and feel so blessed to me a Mother who gets to nurture and strengthen 4 precious souls who have been entrusted to my care.  They make me a better person every day I spend with them.