I've Got A Great Girl

I've decided with the way my life has been playing out that I'm all about creating life experiences and memories for I. A couple of things have shaped this new philosophy:

Who knows how long we have with our loved ones? If you wait for the "right time" it may never come or pass you by. What happens if something happens that makes it impossible for me to experience/make a memory with I.?

I want to make memories as a family. I've been waiting for when we can do things as a family and all these years later after Mark has died, I see that those times may never come and it may be too late. The only time is now, present day.

So with all that in mind, I decided I was taking I. roller skating today to make it feel like a Sunday. When V. is gone, it is a major struggle to make weekends feel like weekends rather than just another weekday. I. has shown interest in ice skating so I figured roller skating would be a good transition to ice skating.

Boy was I wrong! Roller skating at 3 years old is really difficult! I. looked like a spaz out there, falling down constantly, and flailing in between the falls. But you know what? We had a great time because each time she fell down and looked up at me, I was smiling and laughing and so was she. It was so hot we were drenched after the first, very long lap but we made it still standing. There were 2 times where we were both so sweaty that she slipped out of my grip and took the full impact of her fall and started crying but she recovered relatively quickly. One time, I scooped her up in my arms and whisked her around the rink to give her the experience of speed. However, she didn't really enjoy it because she wanted her independence of doing it on her own.

Afterwards, I talked to her about how proud I was of her because no matter how many times she fell, she got up, smiling, and tried again. I heard other mothers holding I. up as the example of not giving up to their older children and even had a much older girl tell me how impressed she was by I. getting up every time and keep trying.

I was so impressed by I.. She is me cubed, at the very least. To get up from falling a hundred times is one thing, to get up smiling is a whole 'nother animal. I. is amazing and I'm so proud of her. I knew how exhausting it was to me today, figured how exhausting it was to her, but didn't count on her passing out within 10 minutes. She is a great girl and I'm so lucky to have her!