My daughter started middle school last week. She also started cross country. She is not fond of running (atleast not yet!) and she has informed me that she is really only doing it so that she doesn't have to ride the bus home! Sort of sounds like the recipe for disaster, eh?
I picked her up on Day 1. She complained about how far they had to run and how hot it was and told me again that the only reason she was doing it, was to please me! As I drove home, I was thinking to myself, as I watched her in the rear view mirror, "Oh man, this is gonna be a long year!"
Day 2. She hopped in the car and said "we didn't have to run as far as yesterday". She seemed a little happier, lighter, not so grumpy. She also informed me that they have their first meet next week. And, surprisingly, it was not followed by "I don't want to go" or "I am soooo not looking forward to it!" When I asked her if she was giving it an effort, she said, "I am trying, mom." Oooh, progress. I will take "I am trying" over "this sucks!" any day!
Before school started, we were talking about it and she said even though she didn't want to do cross country, she would never quit. She went on to say that in her dance class, when someone quits, the entire class is forced to start over and do another dance because it doesn't work without that one person. She said, "It just makes it hard on the whole class and I don't think that's fair."
We often get that idea that once something is hard, we can just give up. I am so thankful that she is learning at an early age, that "quitters never win and winners never quit"! Amen.
The other day at practice they had to say their name and why they had gone out for cross country. (I could only imagine what she said. "Ummmm...I am only doing cross country so that I don't have to take the bus home." or "I hate running but, my mom made me do this!") Much to my surprise, she said, "I am doing this because my mom loves running!" Aww, that's sweet. Even if she is doing it more for me than her right now, I am hoping that, in the end, she might just end up enjoying it a little bit!
Just today, I saw a post on facebook that really hit home. It said: "DLF (Dead Last Finish) is greater than DNF (Did Not Finish) which trumps DNS (Did Not Start) anytime." Even if she ends up last in her heat, I am proud of my little girl for getting out there and trying. And, finishing last is way better than not ever getting out there at all. Go get 'em girl! I'm rooting for you. -Mom
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