Last week, little Miss. S started Horseback riding lessons.I sat and watched her first lesson, with this amazing smile on my face, and feeling in my heart. It is funny, thinking about what and how to expose your children to different learnings, cultural activities and adventures in life. Balancing time for play, school work and the world at large. Knowing that in addition to the activity itself, there are so many life lessons in each of these moments..
After weeks ( actually months of asking if she could take riding lessons ) she had finally cleared the waiting list, and was a bit shocked when we announced at breakfast that today was the day!
As we walked up to the stables ( and the boys ran around the barn ) she grabbed my hand and announced ” I’m a bit nervous ” No worries I said, that is totally understandable and after some more conversation…imagine how the horse feels!
At that exact moment, a memory in my mind. Me, in Ballet at the age of 7, crying the entire first class.
A week or so before, as we were driving somewhere, my mom had proudly announced that she had signed me up for Ballet and Brownies. She was clearly so excited about both of these activities and had clearly spent some time thinking about her little girl and her own dreams for me…
In these moments, I think about her often, and I realize so much differently then I did simply as a young adult.
I understand for the first time the delicate balance between her dreams, her hopes and her role as a parent. She spent so much time thinking about how to introduce us to the world and then allowed us then to find our own ways and things we loved.
Balancing I realize looking back art, sports, culture in a way until now I did not understand. There was a simplicity and elegance to it, things she had wanted for us, and expose us to, but then at times an understanding of what actually fit and served us well. Never feeling like we moved from one thing to another, there was enough time to work through the initial excitement ( or apprehension ) the appropriate amount to time to actually participate ( and not quit ) and then in some cases to really and deeply connect with..
Our afternoons early on consisted of the classics and in hindsight a really balanced little plan; Brownies, Ballet and Little League early on, Piano lessons ( this was probably the biggest disaster in a house filled with natural talent and a grandmother who had gone to Julliard ) Art Classes, Little League and Soccer in the later years and finally a full roster of Sports and Art Classes that perfectly fit the things I most loved and excelled at..Somehow, we found our way through all of it and naturally got to where we were meant to.
Her hopes and dreams, her dedication to making it all possible and then her understanding of who I really was.
Finally, I am appreciating it now. Weekends and School Vacations were meant for big outings into the city, Museums, Planitarium’s, Broadway plays and in the Spring and Fall daily treks outdoors.
I realize more and more, how much like her I actually am, and in some ways want to be.With more affection, and no holding back of emotion, I want the best for our kids and want them to have a love of life, confidence in themselves, a knowledge of the world, a love of learning, and honesty about what feels right and a dedication to try their best.
Looking serious through out the group lesson, little Miss S. finally came out of the ring, leading her horse back up to the stable. Her instructor kindly said how well she had done and was clearly hopeful that she had enjoyed it..A few minutes later, after a hug, when it was just us, a huge smile came over her face. ” That was great she said, when do I get to come back ? ” walking down the path with two other girls, she looked a little taller and eagerly joined their conversation.
A pretty amazing afternoon.
Thank you Mom. Image courtesy of Tara Donne
These are t
he current windows in the stores. The Washington & Lincoln graphics relate back to a group of T shirts in the store. We thought it would be fun and interesting to have the windows be relevant as we get closer to the election. As always our focus was how to get parents and children talking, while making it aspirational for kids.
Came across this great service earlier this week, and thinking about trying it out…I aspire to plan out weekly meals, figure out how to easily shop for just what we need and have a variety of healthy choices on the dinner table, but alas, Unless my husband does the cooking ( which I must admit he does often and quite well ) it is merely an aspiration. Trips to the market result in some good menus and plans for a few days, and then back to basics. Or, I buy some random things that don’t quite mix with anything else. Other times, a key ingredient can be forgotten. An now…for a monthly service that makes it all a bit easier…