Encouraging His Fighting Spirit

My Brady.

We all know that he is a fighter. But you know who doesn't know? Brady! This child is stubborn and will dig his heels in when he wants to. But when it comes to doing something he finds difficult, he is sometimes hard to convince that he should keep trying.

It is so tough to decipher if Brady resists trying things because they are truly hard for him, or if he is just being stubborn. Honestly, as the kids are growing and changing, I am starting to notice that there are things that are just physically harder for him. For example, he really struggles with things like sitting and taking his shoes off, or putting his socks on. He just seems a lot less flexible and his balance isn't quite up to par. So as his parents, we encourage him to try. Brady is quite aware that things are hard for him, so he instantly whines and says he can't. As his momma, it breaks my heart to know that he has a constant reminder in Eli and Cara that he may be different. We try and make modifications for him so that he can feel successful, but at the same time we want to encourage him to try his best.

Today on the playground he was just so frustrated that Eli could manage to get up to the big slide and sit easily. There was a little ledge that he had to manuever to sit down at the top of the slide while ducking down so he didn't hit his head. He just couldn't seem to do it, and although he wanted so badly to do it, he didn't want me to show him how. It was such a battle for him as he realized he couldn't do what Eli could. Frustration turned to devastation...for him and for me.

Sigh. It is a difficult pill to swallow when you realize that your child is aware that he is different. It's even tougher when your three children the same age start to differentiate in ability level. Today it is about Brady's struggles physically, in a few years it may be about who is a better baseball player or who learns to read first. My job is to keep loving them exactly where they are at and to help them understand that it is okay to be in their own unique place in life. I'm thinking this is another one of those great big requirements of motherhood:)