Lift off!.......Houston, we have a problem.

Very first bus ride

So today started magnificently. We were on time for the bus. Then, as we were waiting, our neighbors across the street came over with their mom and introduced themselves. The girl's name is Hadley.....and she sits across from Ashley in the same class! How cool is that? We told Ashley that her classmates were no longer strangers; they're her neighbors! Wouldn't it be awesome if they became good friends?

I picked the girls up and we headed to Lawton for Jordan's first gymnastics lesson and Hailey's first dance lesson at Graceful Expressions. Things were going well. We were the first ones there and the teacher told them they could all go jump on all of the equipment. They were having a lot of fun.

Then Ashley ran up to me and told me she had changed her mind. She wanted to take gymnastics instead of piano. There are good positives to this: less driving back and forth trying to drop people off and pick them up, less money since we would get a discount for having two people in one activity, and it would give Ashley an active activity rather than a sedentary one.

I didn't expect how upset Jordan would be about it though. Jordan came over and I asked how it was going. She said, "Fun...except Ashley is ruining it. I wanted my own activity and now Ashley has taken my spot and I'll never be good at anything. Everyone always says Ashley is better at everything. I don't want her here." My heart just broke listening to her. She's really upset over this and apparently she and Ashley argued about it the whole way home.

Jordan is seeing that Ashley does better in school and she's letting that define success. She's hearing Ashley get compliments and doesn't think she gets any. I pointed out that she's able to ride her bike all by herself and Ashley still can't. I pointed out that Jordan can scooter faster than Ashley. I pointed out that the gymnastics teacher told Jordan she was doing well several times. Greg and I both think that Jordan will be good at gymnastics and really like it. We expect that she will probably do better than Ashley at it. She's better coordinated and always has lots of energy.

Right now, Jordan only sees the negative. She's playing to her weaknesses instead of her strengths. It will be my job to build up her strengths so that she can see them too. Part of me wants to wrap her up and protect her from all of this. The other part of me realizes that this will be a growing opportunity and she can come out stronger than she went in if I can guide her through it.