Mommy - I Can Fly!

"I can fly!', are not  words any Mother wants to hear from her young child.  But when they've spent 3 days working on a flight suit that they hope will make them airborne, one hopes that they will achieve at least a slight lift off.
My 8, almost 9 year old daughter, Kaitlynn has always had a strong, vivid imagination and a drive to create.  She is constantly coming up with new ideas, and actually, a lot of them have worked.  So when she came to me with her paper feather suit and asked me, "Mommy, tell me honestly.  Do you think I'll be able to fly with this suit?"  I have to admit, I was a bit stumped as to what my answer should be.  Should I be honest and tell her exactly what was going to happen?  Or should I falsely encourage her and tell her to jump off the roof?  I decided to walk the middle ground and said something to the effect of, "I think you might need a few more feathers and a stronger support for those feathers, but go play it safe and give it a try."
So off she went on a good, windy day and turning herself full into the breeze, started running as fast as she could down the driveway, arms outstretched so her feathers could catch the air.  Before she left she said, "Mommy, in twenty minutes, come outside and look to the sky." 
My heart was breaking for her knowing the visions she was having for her invention would not come to pass that day.  After about 10 minutes, she came in and said, "Well, that didn't work, but at least I have an awesome, handmade costume for Halloween".
Kaitlynn constantly surprises me with her elegance in dealing with life's dissappointments.  What wonderful lessons we can take from simply observing our children.

Comments

  1. Andrea - this is the most precious story! Love the photo of your sweet girl - I don't think you need to worry about this one - she will do just fine!

    Vicki

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  2. Gosh, if only we all could learn to deal with life's disappointments in that way, the world would be a much better place. Your post is so candid... how do we introduce our children to failure without crushing them, or giving them a false sense of hope? I think I will learn from you and try to take that middle ground more often, allowing them to experience it on their own, and leave it up to them to decide if it was a success or not. Like Kaitlynn, she may not have been able to fly, but she most certainly gained something from the experience, something she would not have done if we would be so quick to impose our "adult" correctness on them!

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