(43-268) Love Gives You Courage

If you've read "The Bumpy Ride" before, then you know that all three of my kids do swim team in the summer.  All three kids are skilled swimmers; however, to date Lyndzi (my 9 year old daughter) has enjoyed the most success.  Lyndzi is an extremely fast swimmer, and she's just lovely to watch.  Kelsie is very good for a 7 year old, but she isn't quite the swimmer that Lyndzi was at that age; and although Nicky (almost 12) is VERY precise; he does need to work on his speed.  All three kids have been taking a swim team prep class for the past three weeks.  Nicky and Lyndzi practice in the same group (9-13 years)  and Kelsie practices with the younger group (5-8 years.)

Swimming has been going well.  The kids are all starting to rebuild their endurance and get back in shape; but most importantly, they really enjoy it.  They swim Monday through Thursday and I must say that yesterday Lyndzi was in super competitive mode.  The   coach had even told me how great she thought Lyndzi was doing and how much she enjoyed watching her.  It seemed like Nicky was having a good day too.  We noticed that he had swam his last lap a lot faster than usual; but when they got out of the pool, I could tell that something was wrong.  I asked Lyndzi what was the matter and she told me that she was mad at this girl (that I'll call Brenda, for the sake of this post.)  Now I'm not a fan of Brenda's to begin with.   Whenever she sees me, she gives me this phony little smile, and I don't trust her; so needless to say, I was very interested to hear why Lyndzi was mad at her, since I've never heard her say such a thing about anyone but Kelsie before.  Lyndzi explained that they had swam a lap and she finished first, then Brenda, and when Nicky finished, Brenda told Nicky that he was slow.  Lyndzi said "I didn't think that was nice and I told her that it was a very rude thing to say, and that she should apologize to my brother.  She said that she already apologized, but she wasn't sincere and she gave him this fake smile.  I don't like how she treated Nicky, and so I'm mad at her."

I was so proud of Lyndzi for sticking up for Nicky.  And what I find truly amazing is the courage that love gave her.  If the situation had been different, and Brenda would have been rude to Lyndzi; I don't believe that Lyndzi would have stood up for herself.  But with as much as Lyndzi loves Nicky, she couldn't help but come to his defense.  Truth be told, she probably didn't even think twice about it.  Her love for Nicky gave her the courage to stand up for him and I think that's beautiful.  Nicky surely could have spoken for himself, but  Lyndzi didn't even want him to have to.  I love how connected and protective they are over each other.  As a mom, it is a great reward, and gives me confidence that they will look out for each other, when I can't be there to do it. 
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING