As a parent, it is our natural instinct to want to protect our children, especially when they are crying out in grief, anxiety, or sadness. But I am learning an important lesson. If we try to protect our children from every negative emotion we are also depriving them of the opportunity to build confidence in their abilities!
For example, Lily finally did a swim meet yesterday, after a full season practice. She was supposed to do another one earlier in the season, but she panicked and refused to do it! So with the help of her coach, she said she would try again. Yesterday was the MSC B Championships and Lily signed up to participate at the urging of her coach!
She was very anxious. Especially when she learned that she would have to wait with her team separate from us. She spent a good part of the morning working herself up and crying. Of course, my natural instinct was to just bag it. Why fight the battle. But I heard this little voice saying to me, that she needed to do this for herself. And so we went.
She had a spectacular meet. She did the backstroke and the breaststroke. She shaved over 10 seconds off her backstroke time and came in 1st place in her heat. She shaved over 18 seconds off her breaststroke and came in 2nd place in her heat. You could tell she was SO proud of herself!!!! A real confidence builder! Score for everyone!
I am so glad we made her go! It was a good lesson for all!
