More Growth

Jennifer* has had a bit of emotional growth this year. At the beginning of the school year, she cried at least twice every morning and twice every afternoon in my program over silly little things that really weren't worth that, but as I've said before, she is just a little kid.

At six years old, so many things are devastating. I never tell a child that 'it's no big deal', instead sitting down with them and trying to figure out how to handle the situation without losing it. It makes them feel stronger if they are given tools of their own rather than expecting someone to always fix it or tell them what to do about it, if that makes sense. And the tools in their collection are constantly added to when history repeats itself, as it always does.

Each situation they handle on their own makes it easier for them to handle the next. I enjoy watching them mature and become a little more capable. It's not due solely to my efforts, but I know I contribute to it. So seeing her become more confident and less emotional over the little things has been fun for me this year.

So on Thursday afternoon when she just fell apart over learning how to jump rope, we had a little discussion.

She was watching and admiring some of the older kids who have learned to jump two ropes at once. None of them are very good at it, but they've been practicing every afternoon during free time in the gym. She bravely got in line with the big kids, and when it was her turn to jump, they were encouraging her, telling her, "You can do it." and other little things you say.

And she watched and tried to get the rhythm, and suddenly turned away and started to cry. By the time she got to me, she was crying so hard she was stumbling. Over jumping rope. I let her cry a little, handed her a tissue, put an arm around her and waited. When she had calmed a little, I said, "Why all the tears, Hon?"

Turns out she was terribly embarrassed because she didn't know how to jump two ropes at once and she was afraid the other kids would laugh at her.

So we worked out that what she really wanted was to learn to jump rope, and that just jumping over one, or rather trying to was her ultimate goal.

So I told her that when it was her turn to jump, she could just ask the other kids to use only one rope and let her try.

She was afraid to ask them that, too.

::sigh::

So I walked over with her and helped her ask them.

The big kids were SO encouraging. They helped her, telling her when to jump, where to stand, giving her extra turns and applauding when she managed to clear the rope twice during her turn. I was really proud of all of them. They did it without being condescending or obvious about it, just providing encouragement to her.

Evidently it's not just the smalls who grow during our program.
:)