Determination

Our family kinda likes hockey. :) So, it's likely no surprise to anyone that knows us that Princess is attending hockey camp this week. Bronco Hockey Camp, no less. She's been attending Bronco hockey games since she was in the womb, and watched her Uncle Bean play. Literally, the kid paid attention to what was going on on the ice as an infant - true story. She knew the fight song at two years old. She is a TOTAL Bronco Hockey fan.

So, imagine her delight at attending camp ALL week, ALL DAY, every day -- not to mention that her camp counselors, are current Broncos.

Dude, the kid is in HEAVEN. Seriously.

She is one of the youngest in the camp, and one of only 2 girls in her age group (10 & under), so I gave her the whole "Be respectful - Use your manners - LISTEN - Do what you're told - yada yada yada" speech prior to the start of camp yesterday morning.

Imagine my delight when, at the end of the day, one of the guys told me that she and the other girl were GREAT - the best listeners of the whole day! WAHOO!!!!

Now, because she is one of the youngest, she also happens to require A LOT more help with equipment. So, I spent the better part of yesterday driving to and from the rink every time she needed to be dressed/undressed/redressed to or from hockey equipment, street clothes, and her bathing suit.

Needless to say, I didn't get a whole heck of a lot else done.

The coaches and the counselors kept telling me that they could handle assisting her, and that I didn't have to keep coming back. Even Lynn - the Bronco Hockey Admin Assistant from Heaven (yes, that's her official title) told me she'd be on hand for anything that required female assistance. So, today, I listened, and just dropped her off and picked her up.

And, of course, mommy missed a milestone ....

Background:
My kids LOVE swimming. They come by it pretty naturally; I could swim before I could walk, and ALL of their grandparents have a pool, a lake, or both.
Yesterday I decided to stay and watch the beginning of the camp pool time - honestly, I HAD to stay for my own piece of mind. I needed to see how many lifeguards were there, how they handled that many little kids, etc. I watched as the line of kids interested in jumping off any of the three diving boards were "tested" to see if they'd be allowed. Princess was in that group. And, while she is a complete fish in a smaller and less chaotic environment, I watched her jump into the deep end, "swim" maybe five feet, and then ask for help getting out. I then watched her walk over to the shallow end, put on a life jacket, and go play with a beach ball with the other shallow-enders.

I gotta admit, I was TOTALLY fine leaving that building knowing that she was in a life jacket.

But all Princess could talk about after camp yesterday was how much she wanted to jump off the diving board .... the HIGH DIVE.

Holy shit, I about convulsed (story coming in a sec), but quickly settled myself by thinking about what I'd witnessed earlier in the day. I was seriously convinced that there was no way in hell that she'd go from swimming less than five feet to swimming 25 meters (ish) just to jump off a diving board. No. Way. In. Hell.

(This where you can check the title of this post again.)

(This is also where I'll tell the quick story of a four or five year old me, hanging with my mom who was life guarding in Potomac, MD one summer day. I wanted to go off the high dive. Mon said, "That's fine. But, once you get up there, you can't walk back down. You go up, you jump off. Understand?" Well, I got up there, saw how shallow the water looked and froze. Mom was motioning for me to jump. Then she did it with that "look" us moms give. Nothing. I was still frozen. She blew her whistle, cleared the pool, and climbed up the ladder. I was SO RELIEVED TO SEE HER. That is, until I saw the look up close. WOW was she pissed. My thoughts of being escorted back down the ladder were short-lived. She took my wrists, said "Toes on the edge. And when you get down there, swim to the side and go sit by my chair. No more swimming for you today." With that, she counted to three and "assisted" by dropping me over the edge of the board. We both spent the rest of the day pretty miffed with the other.)

Fast forward to my apprehension about Princess. But again, I was convinced there was no way I had anything to worry about.

As I tucked her in last night she said, "Mom, tomorrow, I'm gonna jump in that pool, swim ALL THE WAY across, and then I WILL go on that high diving board."

I so totally should have listened -- and believed.

When I picked her up today, she said, "Hey, Mom, guess what? I did it."

ME: "Did what sweetie?"

HER: "Mom it was so cool. I wanted to go on the diving board so bad. I jumped in the pool, and I started swimming. And, my coaches - they were all yelling for me - and I swam all the way to the other side!"

(The complete self-satisfaction brought tears to my eyes. And the fact that the counselors cheered for her is just heart-meltingly adorable.)

ME: "Wow sweetie, you did? - That is GREAT!"

HER: "And then you know what I did?"

ME: "Did you try the little diving board?"

HER: "Uh, no."

ME: (GIANT SIGH OF RELIEF)

HER: "I walked right over to the big one and jumped off."

ME: (Disbelief. Slight cardiac arrest. Shock. Awe.)

Talk about determination. She was so proud of herself - it was amazing. And, I am so bummed I missed it (still say someone would have had to administer CPR however).

She's six, and teaching me life lessons everyday. Love that kid.

** For the record, Daddy predicted today's accomplishment at about 3pm yesterday after popping in to check on her and finding her staring longingly at the kids in the other pool having diving board fun. He needed no CPR either day, and his reply upon hearing the news? "Told you." Score 1 for daddy.