“Pool,” he said after he talked about not being “upper night.” I told him that we could go to the pool when he got home from school because he slept all night. It didn’t take him long to grab his tablet and talk to me about everything else that was happening.
He was in a good mood and was ready to get to school so he could get back home to go to the pool. He wants to jump off the diving board but I won’t let him until he is ready. I have given him all the rules, he knows the rules, but it’s more about the confidence he needs in himself before I will let him try to jump off the diving board.
He got home from school and there were dark clouds but I prayed they would go quickly by so there was no lightning. I got him ready and off we went. He talked about the diving board all the way there. We went in and he told me all the steps he had to do to get to the pool and to jump off the diving board.
We got in the pool and he said, “Diving board” or his instructions pretty much every few moments we were there. He tried jumping off the edge numerous times but even as many times as he has done it he still wants to hold my hand. I try to make him understand he can do it, he has done it, and he has to do it on his own because I won’t be able to hold his hand on the diving board. He wants this so much but I can’t let him do it until he can jump off the side without a problem and be able to breathe underwater for more than a second.
The best part of the whole adventure was him standing on the ladder, about ready to jump off, and he counted to three with his fingers without me even prompting him. I immediately started crying. There is no greater gift than seeing my amazing son doing something that has always been so incredibly hard for him. I asked him if he could continue counting to ten with his hands and he did it. He slowly pulled them all up counting them as he went. It is a beautiful thing to see such growth.
He wanted to get Chick-fil-A on and he devoured it quickly once we got home. The night was pretty calm except for his concern about how his tomorrow would go. He is supposed to go to his baseball game while I go to my book signing event. His grandma is going to meet us at the field. He wanted to make sure she would be in blue pants so I’m praying that he isn’t “upper night” worrying about it and he has an amazing day.
The gift of seeing him count always makes my heart soar but to see him do it without me asking him was absolutely amazing. The littlest of things can be the hugest of victories and this is one of the hugest. Celebrate your victories no matter how big or small celebrate them all. Smiles to all and donut daze!