Lots of Motherhood

A. went rock climbing today.

It was her friend's birthday and to celebrate they went to the rock climbing gym. A. was so excited because it was something she had wanted to do for a long time.

Things went well for the first 30 minutes. Then they didn't go so well because she fell off a boulder just as she was reaching the top, and scraped her arm. Although she tried to put on a brave face, shock, pain and not a little humiliation soon drove her to the ladies locker room where I found her ten minutes later in tears.

"it hurts," she sobbed showing me the scrape.

My heart melted. She's not even 12 and my baby. I blew on the scrape and held her close. Then I said, "You know what they say about riding horses? If you fall off, you've got to get right back on."

Just as I said that the other girls came rushing in to see if she was OK. When we all went out, we saw that the birthday group had moved to the climbing wall, three storeys high. Jenny, the marshall, beckoned to A. and asked her if she would like to have a go, reassuring her that she will safely harnessed. With my encouragement, A. went up and made it all the way to the top. She did it twice more, each time faster and with greater confidence.

Later, I told her how proud I was to see her overcome that first setback and make it to the top. I said that showed a great deal of courage. She said, "That and lots of motherhood." When I asked her what she meant, she said, "Well, you kept saying, 'Go on, go, go,' I had no choice."

Her 12th birthday is in August. She wants to celebrate by going rock climbing.

Motherhood.