So we all remember a few weeks ago when the local elementary school had their annual Run for Fitness? And Letty placed even though she didn't really want to do it? Well then we got invited last minute to the beach and I was oh so sad that she would miss the championship race but! The fates were smiling on us and it rained on race day and was rescheduled for a day when we were not at said beach and so she could run it! Yaaaaaaay! Letty was less than thrilled about the entire situation but come morning of I said to her look, you don't have to go. Running is fun but if you don't want to than so be it. She said she couldn't decide and wanted me to pick so.... I picked running! Big shocker there.
We gave her a bit of a pep talk... ya know the drill, actually try and run really fast this time instead of chatting with your girlfriends? Yeah, yeah mom and dad, I know. But have fun! And just do your best! And we don't care if you come in last so long as you try and you have fun! My mom met up at our house and delivered other sorts of good advice as Nonna's do and off we went to the end of the Lancaster County earth!
They do a course walk before it starts and I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this and I totally jinxed her! It's on a field and there are trees and the occasional root or bare spots or whatever and I said to her hey if you fall what do you do? And she sang like Poppy, "get back up again!" So I felt like okay yes we have that covered. But then come race time she fell. Oh I was so crushed! I held my breath and debated crying and just covering my head with a blanket till it was all over maybe but then I watched her pop herself right back on up again! She ran like the wind and came in 8th place, beating her time from a few weeks ago by 4 seconds. And all with a smile on her face! I mean personally I wouldn't have gotten up. And if I did I would have cried through the rest of the race. Or at least after the race. The entire ride home. Maybe in bed that night. Or all night long... But not her. I think so many things in life are just harder on us moms right? Projecting some kind of deep anxiety and low confidence issues onto our very perfect and wonderful little people we are in charge of raising... But it's not that way for them maybe and we need to give ourselves a little breathing room perhaps? She ran fast and had fun and got herself a ribbon and could care less about The Fall. Like, what fall mom?
So anyways. Here's to not screwing up these kids! Because it's perfectly wonderful and amazing that she fell and finished and smiled. She smiled.
Yeah, we totally got her a slushie on the way home because girlfriend earned it.
Last year's championship race here.
