Little Women
• Aug. 16, 2008 - Reading between the lines
I don't watch much TV, but I do love the Olympics--the grace of the gymnasts, the tenseness of beach volleyball, the speed of the swimmers! But one thing has caught my eye this year, more than ever before.
Perhaps I am reading into things a bit here, but I can see it in the eyes of Michael Phelps' mother. Fifteen years ago, she was a single mother, raising 3 children. One of these was a son with an enormous amount of energy. I can see her in my minds eye, trying to deal with such energy day after day, probably after a long day of work. I can imagine fairly stressful parent-teacher meetings, maybe questions about referrals for help with sitting still all day. My mind sees her wondering how on earth she will cope with this child, growing up in today's world with boundless energy and not being quite like the other kids around. I would be worrying about what would happen as he grew up, and would he ever settle down. He'd be bigger than she is, soon.
They finally chose a sport, in an attempt to use some of that energy in positive channels. Here he meets a coach who can see the neediness in this young boy, and puts time into him, in and out of the pool. And Phelps succeeds!
I see his mom wondering, remembering, every time, "How did we ever come this far? If I had known then, what I know now, that this boundless energy would be controlled to a purpose......!" The relief, the pride, the joy is all there, right on Mrs. Phelps lovely, smiling face--so proud of what her son has become.
And I think the rest of us, who struggle day to day with a child who has way more energy than we do, who may be a bit different from the others, needy in some way, can take a lot of encouragement from her story, as well as his. |
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• Aug. 21, 2008 - Untitled Comment