There are times when someone just makes you so proud you have to document it! This happens all the time with this girl. I want to document a few things that have impressed me about this girl the past few weeks. HUGE DISCLAIMER FIRST: I don't take any of the credit for the things this girl does. She is a strong, confident person and she came that way! She came into the world bright, determined and sure of who she is. I don't take any of the credit but am still desperately proud all the same!
The first week of events that had me impressed:
Sammy played in her first basketball game after a 4 year break from organized basketball! Let me explain why this is a big deal...
When she played basketball back in third grade she wasn't very good. She couldn't really focus on the game, she was always daydreaming during the games, she didn't break much of a sweat and she didn't really seem to like it.
However, after a 4 year break she is a new player! She is stressed out on the court because she is trying so hard to pay attention and play the correct position. She runs the entire game, sweats a lot and shoots when she gets the ball! She is TRYING and putting in EFFORT now! It's an amazing transformation.
I'm a dork for writing this but the truth is the truth: I kept having to hold back tears while Sammy was playing because I was so proud of her. This is why. It's easy to be proud of your kids when they have a natural talent at something; however, when they take an interest in something that is difficult for them and they try their best it is really awesome. Sammy shot the ball twice during the game and made both of her shots. It was unbelievable!
I really think it took courage for Sammy to play basketball again. If you saw the other girls on the court it would help explain what I'm talking about. Sammy is tall for her age but she looked like a skinny little thing out on the basketball court. Most of the girls are 7th and 8th graders and Sammy was definitely one of the smaller ones.
Good on you, girl!
Another proud moment this week came when she was at her Wednesday night rock-climbing activity. Sammy is a pretty decent rock climber. She has the perfect long legs for this sport, definitely the brains for it and she had some practice at it after attending after-school climbing club at school last year. So, the beehives went rock-climbing for an activity. Sammy's friend Natasha was scared to death and afraid to climb. So, apparently Sammy coached her along the entire time and helped her get to the top of one of the walls. Then, her friend Natasha was too afraid to go down so Sammy decided to stay with her and help her get down.
I wasn't at this activity but I was cracking up as Sammy was re-telling the story: She told the whole story in Natasha's Aussie accent, "I CON'T do it SOMMY, I CON'T!" Sammy didn't get to do many climbs at this activity for herself b/c she was "stuck" helping her friend. However, "good on you" again girl b/c life is so much more than climbing mountains for yourself...there is so much joy to be found in helping your friends to make it up the mountains also!"
LAST PROUD MOMENT:
While I was Hong Kong last week I arranged for Sammy to attend her Cast party for The Sound of Music. I thought it would be fun for her to go to a party where all the cast would be together again and celebrate her hard work!
The night started out according to plan. She took a taxi to her friend Stephanie's house. Then Stephanie's mom drove the girls to the boy's house where the party was being held. Apparently the party started out pretty innocent...they ate pizza and played a game that they had learned in their drama class called "Park Bench." However, the mom and the domestic helper, who were the only 2 adults at this 6,7 & 8th grade party, went inside after a while and hid themselves away from the kids. Yes, there are many parents like this around here. They are pointless and turn their heads when they know exactly what is going on.
So, with no adults around you can imagine how this party started to take a turn for the worse: "Park Bench" became a bit racier, and then they switched to a new game which you may or may not be familiar with, depending upon if you were raised in the suburbs or the city, called "7 Minutes to Heaven." If it doesn't ring a bell let me educate you...it's 7 minutes in the closet with a boy (or girl). Funny thing is that when Mike played this game in middle school it was called "7 Seconds." I'm much more comfortable with middle schoolers in the closet together for 7 seconds...for obvious reasons!
Now you may want to ask yourself what you would have done in this situation, what your child would do, etc. Well, I'm in complete awe of Sammy's reaction. She just stood right up in front of all of her peers and said that she wasn't sticking around for this inappropriate game. So, 2 other girls from the musical went with her and they left that action.
The next game that was played was truth or dare. Funny thing is that an 8th grade boy at the party said to her, "You probably won't want to play." Sammy busted right back, "Is that an insult?" He then replied the following, "I guess I can see how you could take that as an insult but it wasn't really meant to be." The kids all went and played truth or dare but Sammy and her threesome did something else. Peer pressure doesn't exist for this kid. She doesn't have to stand up so forcefully but she chooses to. She doesn't let anyone get confused about her feelings on a certain subject. No gray areas for this chick!
Good on you again girl!
OK..so the last big moment for this week (that I can recall) that impressed me about this girl was last Thursday after school when the phone rang. I answered and handed it to Sammy, wondering who the woman was on the other end of the phone. Turns out, it was her science teacher...her very HARD science teacher. She was calling to tell Sammy that she had just read her research report on macaques and just had to call and tell her how impressed she was with it. She told Sammy that she might want to consider a career in research because it was so good.
Last good on you girl for this blog post!
The coolest part about Sammy is that she doesn't really want any of you who are reading about this right now to know. She just does what she does because she believes in standing up for what's right and good. She does is for herself and for God. I think we could use a lot more Sammy's in this world!!!
