Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Ice Skating and Grit

Thank you Alex J. Cavanaugh for giving me an excuse to blog every first of the month. Happy IWSG Day!


Angela Duckworth conducts research at the University of Pennsylvania that proves the two most determinate factors of reaching success in life are grit and self-control. As a seventh grade teacher, I’ve preached for the last 15 years that intelligence without determination is wasteful. I’d rather have a semi-smart student whose determined to find the answer than an ubber-smart student who can read any difficult text I throw at him but is too apathetic to push himself beyond his ability.

My three-year-old son was born with grit. After a punctured lung and almost losing his life twice in the first week of life, he fought hard to get rid of the machines breathing for him. He would pull out tubes and IV’s when he was ready to not rely on them anymore. How an infant can instinctually determine that is beyond me – but my kid has amazed more in the last three years than I’ve been in the last 35 years of life. At age two when he didn’t have words, he would sit for 20-30 minutes at a time and practice his flashcards that indicated sounds – not because I prompted him. He wanted to talk. His path to success hasn’t been easy. He needs everything explicitly taught to him. But he wants to learn, and he’s determined to succeed.

A couple weeks ago, I took him to an introductory ice skating class. I don’t know what I was thinking. My kid struggles with coordination, motor planning, and core strength – things you kind of need to skate. It was nothing short of disastrous.  He cried, screamed, and fell a million times. At one point, he was crawling on his hands and knees for the door of the ice rink while sobbing. In that moment, I was pretty sure I’d ruined his life. But at the end of the thirty-minute session, he took one step off the ice and said, “Mama! Mama! I did it!” He smiled for the rest of the night. After two more lessons, he was skating. I still tear up when I think of how proud I was of him in that moment.

My kid is amazing.

I can read about it, I can preach it, I can be inspired by it on a daily basis. At some point, it’s time to get my ass in gear and show some grit.

May you all find the grit you need to meet the success you want in life.

My 3 yr old son with his brother and his aunts

15 comments:

  1. Kimberly, that is awesome! He may have suffered through the first lesson, but he knew he's accomplished something when he finished. You should be very proud of him.

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  2. This is all awesome. Well, not the falling and crying bit for your son, but awesome because I needed to hear this. So...thank you.

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  3. What would we be without failure? If we never failed, we would never know the satisfying pleasure of success. There is always more to learn from someone who has it tough and keeps on going than the person who easily accomplishes everything they set their mind to doing. I am so glad that you have your son to motivate you to become your best!

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  4. I totally choked up when I read this. How beautiful, and what an inspiration your son is! And as a lifelong figure skater myself, I know it's something that will continue to bring him great joy, no matter how much or how little he learns of it.

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  5. That is so inspirational. He is amazing, it is so great when you get to hear of how strong some people are, thanks for sharing.

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  6. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story.
    Your son is amazing... a little kid with a BIG heart... and he has an equally amazing mom!
    Congrats to you Kimberly!

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  7. Aww bless him! Your son has taught me the most valuable lesson: never give up. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. That's some determination! I suppose he's setting up to conquer the world.

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  9. This <3 I can't wait to hear about his ice skating adventures (please post updates!)

    (speaking of updates- we need an email!)

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  10. GRIT and determination is always half the battle!

    Lesson from your son--it may frustrate the heck out of you but if you keep at it you can conquer.

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

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  11. Thanks for this post. It pulled at my daddy-heart-strings.

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  12. Wow, Kimberly. Thanks so much for sharing this bit about your life. Kids are amazing. They teach us so much and are so resilient. I actually think they're much stronger than we are! LOVED this post. Thank you.

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  13. HI, Kimberly,

    That is some story... Thanks for sharing it with us... Thankfully I've always had grit!

    Have a great weekend....

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  14. Kimberly, I dedicated a little something I think you will appreciate on the Thursday post. At least, hope so:)

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  15. That's some serious grit! Great story!

    Hope your year is going well :) One month down, nine more to go...

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