angel in the locker room

so yesterday my faith in people

was a little shaken when I took my kids to swim lessons.

two of my girls are great in the water and doing well in their lessons.

one of my girls, j, is very timid in the water

that is her personality, actually.

she is a quieter girl,

content to play alone a lot of the time with her webkinz, dinosaurs and space toys.

but she has lots of friends and loves to giggle with them and her sisters.

she just has an aversion to athletics, poor girl, just like her mom.

sorry, j, for passing that lovely genetic tidbit onto you.

but she tries.

and that's all I can ask for.

I eventually learned to swim and liked it and so will she.

so imagine my utter shock and lump in the throat-inducing dispiritedness

when I hear a big, loud-mouthed dad spewing,

'look at that girl in the life vest, all she does is sit there on the side and shiver. She does absolutely nothing!'

that 'girl in the life vest' was MY kid. I was mortified. I didn't even know what to do.

i wanted to say something so badly.

but that's not me.

i wish i had.

but if I had opened my mouth, hot-burning tears would have bursted from my eyes

and probably nothing would have come out of my mouth.

i was so ANGRY.

and upset.

what kind of parent says something like that?

i went to get j when her lesson was over and she was upset

because she got scared near the end when her instructor asked her to try a front float.

i was upset about the comment but trying to put on a happy face for her

telling her she was so brave today for trying something new.

kids don't learn things at the same pace.

i know she'll get it eventually.

she's only 7 for goodness sake.

but i'll tell you what this 7 year old kid CAN do,

she can tell you the name of every dinosaur known to man,

she can name all of the planets, in order from the sun outward

before you can even start thinking about which comes first.

she can tell you the name of each and every one of her 15 webkinz

she can identify a nickelback song within the first 2 notes of a song

(yes nickelback...)

she knows what a jabberwocky and a jedi knight is

and she is the sweetest, most gentle kid I know.

i was telling j how proud of her i was

when a mom standing next to us in the locker room,

who knew nothing of the loud-mouthed comment

came over and said to j,

'do you know how brave you are, sweetheart? you are getting better and better each time. you really are, ok?'

thank you, thank you, lady in the locker room,

for restoring my faith.

there is more good than bad in the world.