Jumping on her bed? Break every spring girl!
At the beginning of her preschool school year after she had just turned three, I went to observe her classroom. I went for a lot of reasons, mostly to make sure I liked the classroom and to make sure her needs were going to be met.
I left the observation in tears. Not because I was disappointed in the classroom. Not because I was disappointed in the teacher or the therapists. No, I left crying with a broken heart. You see there was an obstacle course in class that included Ashlynn jumping on a trampoline with a bar, and then crawling like a bear around a table. She couldn’t do any of it. I watched all the other kids jump enthusiastically and then do their best bear crawl. When it was Ashlynn’s turn, she needed help to get up on the tramp. Then, instead of jumping, she just marched her little legs up and down. Big smile and beautiful energy, but no jumping. Not even close to jumping really. She needed help getting down and in fact she almost fell. Then, as she went to do her bear crawl, the teacher had to hold her core for her to even get up on her legs.
It makes me tear up even now. It just wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t she jump like the other kids?
Well, today, just 6 short months later, we went to her preschool picnic to celebrate the last day of school. There was that trampoline that just a half a year earlier she could only march on. Well, she stood in line with that same big smile, that same beautiful energy; and when it was her turn she got up on that tramp WITHOUT anyone’s help, and she jumped, and she jumped, and she jumped some more. And….when it was time to get off, she got down without anyone’s help.
As I sat on the side watching, I realized that I’m the one that has it all wrong. The only thing that changed was that my daughter could now jump, but that wasn’t the real story. The real story was that despite being different or not, or needing help or not, or being able to even do it or not, she always DID it. She did it with a smile, a giggle, and that beautiful aura she carries around with her teaching me life is what you make it; and when it’s what you make it, you WILL MAKE IT.
She amazes me everyday. I still hate that she has it. I still hate that it seems like she has to scratch and crawl for every achievement she makes, but I’m beginning to realize she WILL always do anything she sets her heart to doing and I am so proud of her.
Oh, and one more thing. As she went down for her nap today I heard noise coming from her room. When I went to check on her, she was holding her bed rail jumping up and down like she was on that trampoline. I told her to lay down like any sensible mother would, but inside I was thinking, “Keep jumping Ashlynn! Break every spring!”
