“I’m Right Here Behind You”

 

There is no way! It is too high and too dangerous!

Those were my thoughts as my son climbed the inflatable slide above. When I first saw this contraption I thought to myself, “This looks fun, but it is not meant for three-year olds.

Well, my son proved me wrong!

The fuzzy picture above is of my three old son, climbing up the stairs of this slide. Trust me, it was steeper and taller than it looks in the photo.

What may not be readily evident is that in the photo my son is turning around to see if we were watching him. Of course we were! Not only was I watching him, but my daughter (Heroes Don’t Always Wear Capes)was right there behind him, every step of the way. And he knows that! And that’s why he is willing to take chances in life. And that’s why he had the courage to take this chance.

The two of them climbed the ladder and slid down numerous times. Several times he flipped over and would look at me to see my reaction. Of course I cheered him on! And that was all he needed. That and his sister with him. She is his number one fan and he is hers. Towards the end, when he was tired of flipping over and tumbling into a pile, his sister would would slide down with him.

This is a quick piece that I just wanted to share. I didn’t want to spend too much time crafting it because it is not about the writing. It is about the message.

We need to let our children, our students and our staff know that we are right there with them. They will fall. They will be scared and they will make mistakes. But they need to know that when they are taking that chance,

when they are taking that risk,

when they are little scared,

that they can turn around and know that we are right there!

Have a great day and remember that you don’t need to solve every problem you are faced with today, but you do need to be there when someone turns around to look for you.