Soapbox

So I’ve got this kid… and , as I believe I have mentioned before, she really likes getting gifts. One week before her 7th birthday, her grandma gave her a box. It was an oval-shaped box, covered in quilted fabric and looked like a very small overnight case. The box had a lock on the front, and two keys attached.
"This is for your birthday, Kathleen." she told her. "The box is for you, and also what is inside- but don’t open it until your birthday!"

I offered to keep the box for her, to reduce the temptation, but Katie wanted it in her room, right beside her bed, so she could gaze upon it. Naturally, however, she was in a fever to know what was inside.

The next morning she was speculating at great length about what it could be, and her father managed, without actually saying it was so, to plant the idea in her head that the contents was alive.
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So I’ve got this kid…and he loves to watch people on the climbing wall at our local sporting goods store. Last night, his dad decided that he could give it a shot himself.
He was so excited, he was practicaly wriggling. He put his name on the list and sat down to watch other people climb while he waited for his turn. We talked about how much fun it would be, even if he couldn’t get all the way up.
When his name came up, he got into the climbing harness, and discovered, to his delight, that he was just barely big enough to get into the smallest climbing shoes they had. Grinning from ear to ear, he gave me the thumbs up, considered the 46-ft. wall before him and started up.
And kept going up. And up, and up.

Now this kid is not exactly the athletic king of his age group. He rides a bike pretty well and is fearless in the water, but he’s alot like I was when I was in 5th grade- not the first one picked when teams are chosen for volleyball, basketball, soccer, etc. So as I stood there, watching him move up the face of the wall like a spider in my bathroom, I was just thrilled. By the time he was half-way up, I was calling out things like, "Way to go, buddy! Wow, you’re doing great."
Of course, his father was saying things like, "OK, now move your right foot up and to the left…" but Stephen showed no signs of needing any advice. The kid is a natural!

Someone behind me said, "Hey, he’s pretty good" and as he passed the three-quarters point I was starting to hop up and down and shout, "That’s my boy! What a kid!" Darned if he didn’t make it all the way to the top and hit the red buzzer.
He was so excited that he kept trying to rapelle down, even though the belayer repeatedly urged him to walk his feet down. I think I was as pleased and proud as he was.

Then it was his little sister’s turn. She’s so little that they made her wear a chest harness instead of the waist harness everyone else used. Climbing shoes were out of the question for her, so , wearing her sneakers she grabbed a handfull of wall and started climbing.
I had tried to prepare her for the possibility that, being so darn short, she might not have the success her brother had. I had not figured on her determination (or the occasional help of the belayer when the next hand hold was just a little bit out of reach.) 46 feet may not sound like a great height, but when you’re standing at the bottom and your six year-old is approaching the top, it looks horrifying.
Up she went until she found the buzzer as well, with her brother excitedly cheering her on. After everyone’s feet were back on the ground, we headed for home.

"This has been an important day in Meisky history" Stephen announced as we piled into the car. It had indeed.
The kids had learned that they could conquer the same wall that they had watched other people fail to climb.
I learned that sometimes, while you’re busy preparing your children to deal with disappointment, they’re busy successfully climbing mountains.