Wednesday, October 22, 2008

try-out week (again)

it's try-out week again for our jump rope team and i'm once again hating it. i have many kiddos from previous classes who are trying out this year. and, well, i'm not sure they're going to make it. which kills me. they have been getting ready for this for years, and they're analyzing every jump they make. i've taught them to try their best, always. and it's about to not get them very far. i suppose it's time for the next life-lesson~ what to do when you work as hard as you can, and you didn't quite get what you wanted. so you try something else, or try again.

there is one little girl in 5th grade i've watched try out every year. she comes with a great attitude, stares at us with longing and takes in everything we say. when she found out that she didn't make it in third grade she cried, but she came back and tried again. she didn't make it then, but once again she's back, and trying her best. and i so, so want her to make it. i want all of her hard work to be rewarded, all of that practicing and doing the "right thing" for so many years, i want her to get what she wants. really, what she's earned. but i can't give her the coordination and the strength to make the rope go under her feet without tripping her up.

there are kids who are amazing and who are shining. and many who are didn't make it last year, practiced all year, and are back and are truly, fantastic. i think we'll have a good team, and the kids who make it will have a great experience they wouldn't get otherwise. we just have to get past this week, and perhaps be there for the kids who don't make it, to help them pick themselves up and try again.

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