skating

I watched Banana really push herself at skating today. It helped that she had new (to her) skates and that we had a friend along (thanks, Eileen!) who was a polished enough skater to teach her a thing or two... like skating backwards. I realized one of the things that worries me about Banana, however.

As anyone who knows us or regularly reads this blog knows, she is an independent, head-strong little girl. Her usual reaction to being told she should take lessons or join a team is to say that she already knows how to do whatever-it-is. She will then, as she did today, demonstrate her version of whatever-it-is. Sometimes she's successful; sometimes not. I have yet to figure out how to convince her that someone can teach her how to do things better—and why that's valuable.

Granted: she's a smart, headstrong six-and-a-half year old. Still, I worry that she will follow my path. That is to say that she will follow the path where she does just enough to know she can do something well and then veers on to something else.

As I explored in an earlier post, it's a tricky question—this question of how much to push, how much to encourage, and when to let something go.