As a parent we can learn a lot

I learned something this morning my soon to be 17 year old is not a little girl any more, She has been growing up before my eyes. She can make decisions on what she wants to do after she weighs it all out. I have to say I am quite proud of her all the time. She most definitely has had her ups and downs. Her pains and her victories. But I will say they have been all hers, she has owned them and moved on.

This child has always been into some type of sport dance, track, softball cheer, as a mom can I say I have pushed her yes, pushed her to be the best that she can be. Never can I compare her to any one else as there is always some one faster, stronger and better then her.  But to be her personal best is what I can do.If that isn't enough then she has to have the drive. I can never compare her to any one else because she isn't any one else. But I can push, drive and supply her with the tools she will need to achieve her personal goal.

I think she has realized a few things in the past couple of years. She has to want to do something, It's okay to fail, but never give up. She is a lot stronger then I or she gives her self credit for. But the one thing she knows is I will guide her, tell her when she is wrong praise her when it is needed but most of all I am always there I will always have her back.

I want my children to do what ever they want, I want my children to be successful in their own right, I don't ever want them to be able to do something I may say or do. There dad and I didn't grow up in the small town we live in now and sports here are so political. But my children play they have yearned their spots because they have the drive and heart to want to be there. I have tried to instill that in them. I don't ever want it said they only play because they are so and so kid, or they know so and so. From my older child to my younger child they have always earned their playing time because they do what it takes to play.

This soon to be 17 year old is no different. At 7 she took to dance along with rec softball, Oh how she loved to dance, she picked up the steps quick and you could tell she loved it. So she danced and she dance on a competitive team, they were all good, was she the best no was she good yes, but she wanted more, so she went to a ballet school too, But she felt she didn't fit in, didn't have the body type she said, But the truth is they intimidated her. They were that good. and she was just starting out in Ballet and felt she couldn't catch up. So she stuck with what she knew she was good at just to dance. When she was 11 or 12 don't remember she wanted to  try out for America's got talent, She wanted to dance, I know she knew it was a long shot but she wanted to try, So she danced and she practiced and she danced and practiced, We then drove to Chicago, Yes I drove to Chicago at 3 in the morning to get there for the call. I never really realized the long day we were in for. And the longer we waited the more she second guessed her self. Then she wanted to go home and not dance, then she would be close to tears, I let her talk, I tried to calm her told I would do what ever she wanted. At 6:00 pm we moved to the area for the actual audition, Then they called her name, She went in that room and danced her heart out, Was she good enough to get called back, No but she did something she wanted to do and she was good.

Then there was track, Who knew my little bodied middle school student, could run the hurdles and the 100 yard dash and be ranked in the middle school conference, she was ranked 5 for hurdles one year and 3 the next. She drove herself to excel but realized that there were 2 others that were better. But they may have been better in time but not in heart, Her first bid to go to state coming down off a hurdle she got tangled in the hurdle, and caught her leg with her cleat, did she lay there and bleed and cry nope she got up caught up with the pack and finished 4th out of 8. Where at the finish line she then collapsed but she finished. Lost her bid for state but gained respect in her self, I always told her things happen pick your self up and finish. We watch it in the Olympics all the time. They fall, get hurt and get back up and finish.

She has grown so much as a person and an athlete, She will continue to grow but she has to decide what is it that she wants out of life. She was going to try out to day for one of the lead roles in the play at School. She had been working on it, trying to perfect her Italian accent, Then last night she went to a catching class and I explained make sure you tell the teacher in charge that she can not be there on Thursday's and for the first time in a long time she said I will mom  no excuses. Then as we were home she was still preparing for the try out which is today and with confidence and determination she turned to me and said Mom, I think I am not going to try out, I have so many other things I need to do, I want to go to the gym and retrain my muscle and gain my speed back, I want to work on my catching, I just think I wont have time to do everything right.


I think at this point in her life she knows what she wants and she is figuring out how she is going to get it on her own,

My mission has been accomplished

then she posted this to me