When I read the update of Claudia's mom on Claudia's Clause Facebook page last Saturday, I could not stop the tears.
I could not believe, Claudia is cancer free!!! This came not without a cost, Claudia is no longer registered as terminally ill, but she's registered as blind. Chemotherapy fights cancer, but, at the same time, is a poison for your body. Still, after having heard around 3 years ago that your daughter has about 2 weeks to live and hear 3 years later that she is cancer free makes it all worth while.
It is a miracle, a miracle of the medical science coupled with a lot of faith and the love of this mom that never gave up on Claudia.
I am overflowing with joy, so very happy for this family that went through so much and for us moms that want to believe that our kids are invincible. Maybe they are indeed...
Do you see a trend here? Yes, that's the new boy in town.
And here's the most recent conversation we've had on this while we were looking through her 1st Grade yearbook I put together for her class:
"Mommy, I love Brendan There's no one else like Brendan.... " (she sighs)
A couple pages and many sighs later:
"And Brendan, I gotta say, I love him!"
I can't stop myself from giggling. She gets annoyed.
" You don't know what's like."
To be in love she meant? Hahaha, yeah of course I don't, right?. Oh B...
Note that all the while, she comes home saying she loves wrestling with Ian and Ian tells his mom about playing Cops and Robbers with her. Oh, B... 2!
So far I've been luck, she's been falling for the good boys. May that trend continue. Will it last through Summer while school is out? My guess is... not! Next!
With what happened this past week, I have learned a great deal about bringing up a kid. I have learned about letting her make her own choices, in spite of what I thought was best. I have learned to admit to my kid that I am wrong (there was no escape!). I am sure this will come handy in the near future as she becomes more and more able to make her own choices.
Last week B had a swim meet scheduled for Saturday and because of the thunderstorms a lot of the practices were cancelled. She had practiced only once that week so I suggested she went on Friday.Only that Friday swim practice clashed with soccer and she did not want to miss soccer for anything.
It is becoming evident that soccer is her real passion. It was a tryout, but I was told by the coach that she did not need to attend as she was in already. She insisted she wanted to play soccer over swimming. I was against it, but finally gave in but not without warning her. I told her that if she didn't do good at the swim meet that it may be a direct result of her lack of practice and that I did not want to hear any crying if it was the case. She looked at me in the eye and said: "Mommy, I won't let you down!". I told her that it wasn't me who she was letting down, but her team and herself. I emphasized that because I want her to understand that she did not need to impress me. I want her to want to excel at school or in her life for herself.
With that, we went to soccer practice. She was so excited! In the tryout, she played with 7 and 8 year olds during scrimmage. She was the only one kicking towards the goal, stealing the ball in the defense, where she was supposed to be positioned, and running all the way up to the front.She kicked 5 or 6 times towards the goal. She ended up scoring the only two goals of the scrimmage, something of a rare feat for her that has never been that much of an offensive player. Maybe this was the best I've ever seen her play! She played her heart out!
I think it was her way of telling me: " Mommy, and this is why I wanted you to bring me to soccer." She was right about that part, but would she still be right about it the next day when the swim meet rolled in the next day?
Well, well, indeed she was. She improved her time in all 4 styles and I'm talking really improved! Some of the styles she took 5 seconds off (which is a bid deal for swimming)! She got one second place, two third places and one fifth place swimming against 7 and 8 years old of both her level and some from the level above hers. She swam her best swim meet ever!
After a tryout of Friday evening, a swim meet duting the hot morning on Saturday, she insisted she wanted to go to the second round of tryouts that same afternoon 1 hour after the swim meet. My girl loves soccer, knows what she wants and goes after it. She has an endless source of energy, I called her my Energizer Bunny.
The entire weekend spoke volumes about her ability to take responsibility (when she told me " I won't let you down") and about using that as her fuel, her motivation.
In the end she told me: " Mommy, you know, you were wrong." I did not even try to deny, I acknowledged my mistake, but not without patting myself on the back for, for the first time, letting her make tough decisions and backing her up, even when I did not agree with them. So in the end, I was very, very happy about the mistake I made.
P.S: Decided to title this post after watching this fabulous ad:
I was the homeroom photographer mom this year. As such, I had to submit many pictures to the year book.
I knew some of them would make it into the Yearbook but little did I know my Miss B would be right on the first page with a picture I took! And then other pictures were included in her own 1st Grade page.
